after passing out as an officer, i was offered the opportunity to be a section mentor. but i declined. i declined becos i did not want to go through and subject my section through all those stuff i went through. well, on hindsight, i guessed i was naive. i had thought that those stuff i went through were part and parcel of a cadet's life and if i were to become a mentor, i would have to do the same... anyway, i rejected the offer to stay on as a mentor. and so that was how i got eventually posted to infantry training depot (itd) as a platoon commander. in those days, i always heard that itd officers were very switched off (meaning - easy life). but eventually, i realized it wasn't after all. i got posted to itd, gryphon company - the one that had the reputation of being the most "siao on" company in camp 3. anyway, the first few days of passing out, i felt terribly weird to be wearing a black bar on my shoulders. it felt super heavy. i felt a sense of heavy responsibility. and i took a while to get use to people addressing me as sir. the feeling of a sense of pride made me (and many of my fellow new officers) continue to starch and iron our uniforms, blacken our boots till it shine - although it was not a requirement.
the entry into itd as an officer was not an easy one. we had to first go through a two-week induction program. at the end of the program, we were made to go through an initiation ceremony at the officer's mess. we had heard so much about the ceremony. and we heard that the one in itd was one of the most siong (difficult) one in the whole army. we were given a "warm welcome" at the start of the whole intiation where we were fed with very spicy food. then, we were made to do a stand-by bed where our seniors would come in and humiliate us, ransack our cupboards, treat us worst than cadets, then do a change parade, following which we were made to change into our sbo and undergo the standard obstacle course (soc). during the soc, we were made to do all sorts of weird things, like leopard crawl up and down the jacob's ladder (there was no safety guidelines as far as i was concerned). the soc started at dusk and by the time we were done, it was already dark. we were then made to go to the mess for the "proper" mess initiation. one-by-one, we were made to report at the mess door, proclaim (shout out loud) that we were "2lt so-and-so, young and green, blur like fuck, request permission to enter the mess, sir!" i got in after one shout. but for some of my fellow batch officers, halfway through shouting their lines, they had wet and dirtied mops pushed onto onto their face, all sorts of things thrown onto them etc... and that was even before we went into the mess.
once we got into the mess, we were made to go through a few stations where we were required to do some silly things. things like placing a mop stick on our forehead, turn 20 rounds and run forward to a finishing line, etc. and at each station, we had rotten eggs, flour and even urine thrown at us by our seniors. we were also subjected to all sorts of silly (and sometimes humiliating) questions. and for every questions that we couldn't answer, we were forced to drink a can (or two cans) of beer. most of us eventually down more than 30 cans of beer each. for me, it was 36 cans. and becos we had spicy food earlier, many of us suffered heartburn during the process and eventually it hit a point where we vomitted like nobody's business. and whenever someone vomitted, the seniors would proclaim "oh, merlion, merlion" and then someone would rush forward and forced another few cans of beer down our throats. for some unlucky ones, they even had raw eggs mixed inside the beer. most of us hit a point where we were no longer fully conscious of our surroundings. we were all in a state of half zombie. the last station was the most disgusting. it was designed to make us puke even more. what the seniors did was they concocted a mixture comprising all sorts of stuff - chilli sauce, ketchup, vinegar, light soya sauce, dark soil sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, raw eggs, etc. and we have to make a toast to the mess and gulp down the mixture. trust me, with such a concoction, even the most gutsy strong stomach person would puke his intestines out.
yup, that was exactly what happened to all of us. we puke and puke and puke. i remembered that very night, after the initiation, we dragged ourselves back to our room. and at the shower, one of my fellow buddies simply lost his consciousness halfway through his shower. he stood in the shower, his face leaned against the wall and his totally lost consciousness. i remembered someone calling for help but couldn't recall what happened after that. i myself had lost all my senses. i found out the next day that he was evacuated to the medical center by the senior. well, as i said, tekong had one of the most siong (difficult) initiation. and i later learned that quite often, helicopters had to be activated to evacuate people after the initiation. with that initiation completed, we were formally welcomed into the itd officer's mess. there was a lot of handshking after that. but we were to daze to know what happened.
i can still remember a lot of things very clearly but will write some of the most memorable ones here:
- my stay in itd was a short one. i was posted there sometime in mar 86. my first batch was recruits were the 39th batch. i was the pc. for the second batch, i was elevated to become the pc cum 2ic cum acting oc (officer commanding) cos my oc went for his tdo (training development officer) course. it lasted close to 3 months. so, being young and green and blur like fuck (that was what the seniors made us proclaim during initiation), i was bullied by my camp ato (assistant training officer). he was a huge and fat chap who enjoyed bullying young officers, what more someone who was an acting oc. sighs.
- as i said, i was bullied by the ato. and for that particular batch, i was made to organize the itd recruit farewell night. a lot of logistics and planning. but well, i survived. but that experience allowed me to understand how bands were assembled, what synthesizers were, and so on. so, in a way, i had my share of learning and fun.
- my appointment as the acting oc allowed me to learn a lot a lot of stuff. i learned things that i never would have learned in my 9 months in ocs. in a way, it forced me to grow up. i had to manage things like postings, disruptions of my platoon commanders, inducting new officers, and so on.
- it was in itd that i got to know my best friend (bs). i recalled seeing him for the first time at the 300m range. and i was rather attracted to him. i was told he was newly posted in. that evening, back at the mess, i was introduced to him. we hit off straight away.
- during one of the days (lunchtime), we were at the mess, and we saw oc lima (a lta low kiam how) running towards the mess direction from the wing block. and looked pretty flustered. it felt weird. to us junior officers, oc's were supposed to be very 'zhai' (composed/ stable) and walk slowly. they are not supposed to run... but here we had an oc running. we found out later that his company had grenade throwing that morning and one of his recruits had his hands blown off. the descriptions were heard were rather gruesome - thumb hanging from the palm with only a thin slice of flesh attached, shrapnels entered all over the recruit's body, people crying, blood splattered everywhere... la la la... from then on, we all learned to respect even more the little green ball called the "hand grenade".
- some of the best moments in itd was the mess time. we were literally stranded on the island and with no place to go, we could only gather at the mess nightly when there were no trainings. and we all had a lot of fun doing stuff together - playing pool, drinking beer, eating crackers, joking, chit-chatting, etc. it was just pure bonding. and we had one lady officer whom we address affectionately by her surname "loo". and we would always tease her when someone asked for her. "where's loo?" someone would ask, and on the spot, someone would shout out "walk out of the mess door, turn left and it's there!" :-)
- i had my fair share of interesting paranormal experiences during my stay there. it ranged from recruits seeing things, recruits drawing pictures from top floor detailing position of tombstones that was supposedly found on the parade square before it was cleared off, pl sgts chasing things from floor to floor, and so on. it was rather scary frankly but well, it made the stay there very colourful and interesting.
- i stayed in itd until jun 87 when i disrupted for my uni studies. during my stay, i had 2 short breaks from itd. first was in oct 86 - dec 86 (if i recall correctly) when i went for my company tactics course, and the second period was from jan 87 - mar 87 wheen i went for my basic intelligence course (bioc). i returned after my bioc and was posted to the hq as a project officer where i was made to redesign the recruit combat movement course at rocky hill and botak hill.
the entry into itd as an officer was not an easy one. we had to first go through a two-week induction program. at the end of the program, we were made to go through an initiation ceremony at the officer's mess. we had heard so much about the ceremony. and we heard that the one in itd was one of the most siong (difficult) one in the whole army. we were given a "warm welcome" at the start of the whole intiation where we were fed with very spicy food. then, we were made to do a stand-by bed where our seniors would come in and humiliate us, ransack our cupboards, treat us worst than cadets, then do a change parade, following which we were made to change into our sbo and undergo the standard obstacle course (soc). during the soc, we were made to do all sorts of weird things, like leopard crawl up and down the jacob's ladder (there was no safety guidelines as far as i was concerned). the soc started at dusk and by the time we were done, it was already dark. we were then made to go to the mess for the "proper" mess initiation. one-by-one, we were made to report at the mess door, proclaim (shout out loud) that we were "2lt so-and-so, young and green, blur like fuck, request permission to enter the mess, sir!" i got in after one shout. but for some of my fellow batch officers, halfway through shouting their lines, they had wet and dirtied mops pushed onto onto their face, all sorts of things thrown onto them etc... and that was even before we went into the mess.
once we got into the mess, we were made to go through a few stations where we were required to do some silly things. things like placing a mop stick on our forehead, turn 20 rounds and run forward to a finishing line, etc. and at each station, we had rotten eggs, flour and even urine thrown at us by our seniors. we were also subjected to all sorts of silly (and sometimes humiliating) questions. and for every questions that we couldn't answer, we were forced to drink a can (or two cans) of beer. most of us eventually down more than 30 cans of beer each. for me, it was 36 cans. and becos we had spicy food earlier, many of us suffered heartburn during the process and eventually it hit a point where we vomitted like nobody's business. and whenever someone vomitted, the seniors would proclaim "oh, merlion, merlion" and then someone would rush forward and forced another few cans of beer down our throats. for some unlucky ones, they even had raw eggs mixed inside the beer. most of us hit a point where we were no longer fully conscious of our surroundings. we were all in a state of half zombie. the last station was the most disgusting. it was designed to make us puke even more. what the seniors did was they concocted a mixture comprising all sorts of stuff - chilli sauce, ketchup, vinegar, light soya sauce, dark soil sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, raw eggs, etc. and we have to make a toast to the mess and gulp down the mixture. trust me, with such a concoction, even the most gutsy strong stomach person would puke his intestines out.
yup, that was exactly what happened to all of us. we puke and puke and puke. i remembered that very night, after the initiation, we dragged ourselves back to our room. and at the shower, one of my fellow buddies simply lost his consciousness halfway through his shower. he stood in the shower, his face leaned against the wall and his totally lost consciousness. i remembered someone calling for help but couldn't recall what happened after that. i myself had lost all my senses. i found out the next day that he was evacuated to the medical center by the senior. well, as i said, tekong had one of the most siong (difficult) initiation. and i later learned that quite often, helicopters had to be activated to evacuate people after the initiation. with that initiation completed, we were formally welcomed into the itd officer's mess. there was a lot of handshking after that. but we were to daze to know what happened.
i can still remember a lot of things very clearly but will write some of the most memorable ones here:
- my stay in itd was a short one. i was posted there sometime in mar 86. my first batch was recruits were the 39th batch. i was the pc. for the second batch, i was elevated to become the pc cum 2ic cum acting oc (officer commanding) cos my oc went for his tdo (training development officer) course. it lasted close to 3 months. so, being young and green and blur like fuck (that was what the seniors made us proclaim during initiation), i was bullied by my camp ato (assistant training officer). he was a huge and fat chap who enjoyed bullying young officers, what more someone who was an acting oc. sighs.
- as i said, i was bullied by the ato. and for that particular batch, i was made to organize the itd recruit farewell night. a lot of logistics and planning. but well, i survived. but that experience allowed me to understand how bands were assembled, what synthesizers were, and so on. so, in a way, i had my share of learning and fun.
- my appointment as the acting oc allowed me to learn a lot a lot of stuff. i learned things that i never would have learned in my 9 months in ocs. in a way, it forced me to grow up. i had to manage things like postings, disruptions of my platoon commanders, inducting new officers, and so on.
- it was in itd that i got to know my best friend (bs). i recalled seeing him for the first time at the 300m range. and i was rather attracted to him. i was told he was newly posted in. that evening, back at the mess, i was introduced to him. we hit off straight away.
- during one of the days (lunchtime), we were at the mess, and we saw oc lima (a lta low kiam how) running towards the mess direction from the wing block. and looked pretty flustered. it felt weird. to us junior officers, oc's were supposed to be very 'zhai' (composed/ stable) and walk slowly. they are not supposed to run... but here we had an oc running. we found out later that his company had grenade throwing that morning and one of his recruits had his hands blown off. the descriptions were heard were rather gruesome - thumb hanging from the palm with only a thin slice of flesh attached, shrapnels entered all over the recruit's body, people crying, blood splattered everywhere... la la la... from then on, we all learned to respect even more the little green ball called the "hand grenade".
- some of the best moments in itd was the mess time. we were literally stranded on the island and with no place to go, we could only gather at the mess nightly when there were no trainings. and we all had a lot of fun doing stuff together - playing pool, drinking beer, eating crackers, joking, chit-chatting, etc. it was just pure bonding. and we had one lady officer whom we address affectionately by her surname "loo". and we would always tease her when someone asked for her. "where's loo?" someone would ask, and on the spot, someone would shout out "walk out of the mess door, turn left and it's there!" :-)
- i had my fair share of interesting paranormal experiences during my stay there. it ranged from recruits seeing things, recruits drawing pictures from top floor detailing position of tombstones that was supposedly found on the parade square before it was cleared off, pl sgts chasing things from floor to floor, and so on. it was rather scary frankly but well, it made the stay there very colourful and interesting.
- i stayed in itd until jun 87 when i disrupted for my uni studies. during my stay, i had 2 short breaks from itd. first was in oct 86 - dec 86 (if i recall correctly) when i went for my company tactics course, and the second period was from jan 87 - mar 87 wheen i went for my basic intelligence course (bioc). i returned after my bioc and was posted to the hq as a project officer where i was made to redesign the recruit combat movement course at rocky hill and botak hill.
4 comments:
The change was hard, from cadet to officer. After POP, I was standing around the parade square when a group of my mentors came behind me and shouted 'Cadet!' On instinct, I replied 'yes sir'. They started laughing. Some of the mentors were nice and some were nasty. Even sadistic. I disagreed the way we were stripped of our dignity by their constant 'tekaning'. I remember living in fear for most of the nine months. How does that prepare one for leadership? It churns out bullies and sadists. I know a few from our batch were in trouble for ill-treatment. Anyway, I hope the OCS program has improved.
hey, yes, transition was difficult. the ocs experience was hard n often inhumane. for me, i admit the learning from the 9mths in ocs was not very good cos almost all the time, i was just trying to endure the pains or trying to stay awake. but i guessed it provided sufficient grounding for me to fulfill my role as a young officer. and it certainly taught me what i should not do as an officer. ironic right? :-) anyway, the leader development in ocs these days are a lot better. more structured and more humane although i still think something is missing but cannot pinpoint what it is...
What did a PC of a BMT platoon do during those ITD days ?
I remembered when I was posted to my arty unit, the initiation involved running around the camp in PT kit led by the CO and then did crazy things like you in the mess. Definitely not as crazy as yours ! But crazy enough until the CO ordered that no NCOs and men were allowed within sight of the mess or faced being charged.
hey, those days, our lives revolved around training. we literally followed the recruits through their training program and there was minimal time for ourselves. whenever the recruits come back to the barracks, we would be caught up clearing admin. admin during those days were rather manual and laborious. no computers. all typewriters, paper forms, stencils, (remember the pink liquid to correct stencils?)... :-)
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