training/ stints overseas - country n

training in this country is perhaps one of the most memorable one. this was because of the lush tropical jungle that we had to operate in. through my more than 2-decade career in the forces, i must have visited this country some 5-6 times. some of the more interesting incidents include:

• my first experience in the jungles was when i was an officer cadet. to make our way there, we had to take barges that sailed through the winding rivers of the tropical jungle - not unlike a trip along the rivers of the amazon. we were exposed to the elements as the barges were not sheltered and it was not uncommon to have people suffer from heat exhaustion during the journey. if i recalled correctly, the journey lasted between 6-8 hours. the base camp we were housed in looked like long houses. they were made of wood and critters from the jungle, particularly cicadas, was able to fly through the rooms as there was a huge gap between the walls of the bunk and the roof. and so to ensure we get our needful sleep, we were all given mosquito nets to hang over our bed. but our stay in teh bunk was short lived. within a day of settling in to the bunk, we had to pack up and head into the jungle for our exercises - first navigation, and then missions after missions. if i recall correctly, the whole duration of staying in the jungle was 4-5 weeks. it was interesting that by the time we emerged from the jungles, we continued to whisper to one another (as we had to do so when we were in the jungle on mission).

• getting lost in the jungle during our navigation exercises. drinking, bathing, shitting, etc everything in the jungles and it was particularly nice to be able to take a dip in the mountain streams. we were given maloprim tablets to drop into stream water to rid the water of any harmful organisms, but we couldn't be bothered. we were often so exhausted that we would just drown ourselves with the chilled water from the streams.

• during one mission, we were all so tired that after we complete capturing the enemy position, our controllers told us that the enemy managed to withdrawal to another location 3km to the rear and that we had to bash our way through thick lallang patches to take the position. the time in the lallang felt forever. the lallang was taller than us and we could not see anything in front. we could only rely on our compass to guide us through and it was super demoralising, made worst by the fact that we were all already do exhausted. to make things worst, we had to carry our carl gustav, machine guns, grenade launchers etc. and when we eventually reach the defended location, we had to do our fire movement up a very steep slope. by the time the controllers declared the position taken and the exercise cut, we literally collapse onto the floor and cried.

• taking the helicopter from basecamp to recce the exercise grounds. the nap-of-the-earth flying (i.e. flying along the contours of the mountain) during the exercise was really interesting. we were literally holding on to our seat belts tightly as the helicopter doors were open to allow us to check out enemy held positions.

• during one particular exercise when i was the company second-in-charge, my company commander got possessed and our unit commander decided to send him back home. apparently, my company commander would get into a trance at 7pm daily and he would howl and scream and he would talk to us in a voice that sounded like a woman and a language that we couldn't understand. the locals called in a bomoh and he concluded that my company commander was possessed by a jungle spirit during one the exercises. to manage my company commander, he was strapped onto the bed to prevent him from hurting himself or hurting people around him every evening when the spirit awakes. this incident shook my whole company badly. in the end, my unit commander decided to send him back home, based on the advise of the bomoh - for the bomoh said that the only way to rid him of the spirit is to fly through water - where the spirits cannot. weird as it might sound, my company commander recovered once he reached singapore.

• the night in the jungle was something i cannot not forget. it was so pitch dark i couldn't see my own palm when i place it in front of my eyes. and during one exercise, we had to harbour on a mountain ridgeline for the night and in the middle of the night, my company heard something dropped from above and then suddenly one of my soldier screamed. next thing i knew, something rolled off the ridge line and landed with a "thud" sounds. everyone was shock and many of my company started firing their weapons. it was a reflex action. it was pitch dark and i could see nothing. i was the company commander and i decided that exercise or not, i call the shots and i took out my torchlight and gingerly walk towards the direction of my soldier who screamed. apparently, some animal flew down from the canopy and grabbed him. and in his struggle, the animal and his helmet rolled off the ridge. it was not a pleasant thing to happen in the middle of the night, and especially after what happened to my company commander earlier on.

• to prepare the training areas before the exercise proper, i had to recce the training grounds. some areas were only accessible via helicopter and, for some others, by assault boats. there was this particular drill that i had to go through that was very interesting - crocodile deterrence preparation. you see, the rivers and marsh land that we operate in was known to be home to some local species of crocodiles. and to prevent any crocodiles from attacking our troops, we had to sail along the river within a specific distance upstream and downstream of the exercise area to scare crocodiles off. and this was how it was done - we armed ourselves with rifles, brought along a lot of thunder flashes and sailed to the spot where crocodiles are known to appear. we then fix the thunder flashes onto the tip of our rifle, light the flash and shoot it into the water. we were told that the explosion caused by the thunder flash would scare the crocodiles away. i'm sure there are some wisdom in this for we did not have any untoward incidents through the years we operate there. but as an additional safeguard, we position personnel with live rounds around the exercise areas and allowed them to shoot to kill if any crocodile appears.

i have a lot more to share about training in this country although i didn't visit this country as many times as compared to some others. but i'm sure the above give an insight into how exciting training in this country was like. up and above all these, i felt most at home living in the jungle, eating my maggi noodles and canned food freshly cooked and sleeping in my tent or by hammock. still miss this place.

:-)