Army Daze (Part 1)
Quote of the Day: Camo Stick
To those who don't know what that is, it's a camouflage stick. Basically a giant crayon with which you use to colour your face and hands a dull green colour so as to look like a frog.
What on earth am i on about? Well, i'm singaporean so i had to do the mandatory 2.5 years of military service. What some people really hope for is the job of a clerk at which the closest they come to mr camo stick are the white board markers in the office. What's gonna follow is a LONG LONG relation of what i did and how i went through the various stages of my National Service (NS).
Once you're certified fit to run around, you have to get a physical fitness test done. Needless to say, i failed the chin ups part of that (i was a portly 97kg at 1.68m tall). Anyway, they had a special phase for us "fatties" where all we would do is get run to our deaths by torture agents clad in all white, Physical Training Instructors (PTIs). MOST people passed the test after 3 or 4 weeks of that punishment. The regulations stated that reps per set was restricted to a maximum of 20 push ups at a time ...but there would always be that mysterious person at the back of the lot who skipped one count and we would ALL start from ZERO!! Bloody hell! Lots and lots of tears were spilt, some from frustration, some from the futility of it all, some from anger, some from the great sense of the injustice we felt. (Cue breasting the tape of a marathon music) However, almost all of us dragged, squirmed or in some cases, weaseled our way through. With that, we were qualified to start what is called Basic Military Training
to be continued...
Post writing this: It all sounds pretty nostalgic and exciting to me but for someone reading it, i can only guess at your pain and suffering, prolly commensurate with what i felt while actually in the army. Will leave this topic be for a while.
To those who don't know what that is, it's a camouflage stick. Basically a giant crayon with which you use to colour your face and hands a dull green colour so as to look like a frog.
What on earth am i on about? Well, i'm singaporean so i had to do the mandatory 2.5 years of military service. What some people really hope for is the job of a clerk at which the closest they come to mr camo stick are the white board markers in the office. What's gonna follow is a LONG LONG relation of what i did and how i went through the various stages of my National Service (NS).
Once you're certified fit to run around, you have to get a physical fitness test done. Needless to say, i failed the chin ups part of that (i was a portly 97kg at 1.68m tall). Anyway, they had a special phase for us "fatties" where all we would do is get run to our deaths by torture agents clad in all white, Physical Training Instructors (PTIs). MOST people passed the test after 3 or 4 weeks of that punishment. The regulations stated that reps per set was restricted to a maximum of 20 push ups at a time ...but there would always be that mysterious person at the back of the lot who skipped one count and we would ALL start from ZERO!! Bloody hell! Lots and lots of tears were spilt, some from frustration, some from the futility of it all, some from anger, some from the great sense of the injustice we felt. (Cue breasting the tape of a marathon music) However, almost all of us dragged, squirmed or in some cases, weaseled our way through. With that, we were qualified to start what is called Basic Military Training
to be continued...
Post writing this: It all sounds pretty nostalgic and exciting to me but for someone reading it, i can only guess at your pain and suffering, prolly commensurate with what i felt while actually in the army. Will leave this topic be for a while.
posted by cokecat at 3:46 pm
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