Donning Green

      From boredom to excitement... enthusiastic to content... 3 days of reservist bring some needed changes into my life. Some may think that i am too 'garang' or simply 'siao ah'... but that's how i actually feels. Army may be tiring, but at some point in time, it wasn't as bad as many of us thought.

      Early in the morning at 7am, we were at the guard house wearing smiles and looking forward to some relax low-key reservist. Unfortunately, it wasn't as expected. One not-so-clever 2nd Lieutenant Officer asked us to carry some antennas & handsets from one building to the other, across a large field. Carrying these stuff wasn't that bad but imagine us carrying all these stuff with our own belongings still with us? Alright, at least he did apologize for missing the part after John brought the matter up. So we moved all these stuff as per request & mount it onto our respective vehicle. This was the second part which i found it rather stupid. We had to find the vehicle that we need to use. There were at least 20+ rovers in the car park. *sigh* One by one, we looked for our rover.

      Overall, the experience wasn't that bad. We wasted almost one day walking around in the PLC or wasting our time in the training shed, outfield. First day was a more relaxed one. I spent my first night with Hanjun & Terence looking at the stars & moon under a clear night. The moon was not round yet. *laugh* Jazz music topped the romantic night. "All we need now, is a glass of wine", joked Hanjun. It was indeed a relaxing night.

      At 2am on Monday, actions began. Mission 1 & 2 saw 46SAR as the attacking party, while Mission 3 had them do the reverse role. I was rather bored in the mission 1 & 2. Little actions can be seen 'LIVE'. Majority actions were heard over the radio net. But i did get to see some huge, noisy tanks close up, right in front of me. Especially the 'Rhino' & 'Bridge' (i don't know the real name for the tanks). It look simply cool. I am thankful to be IC1 trained signaller. You better be after seeing how the Armour counterparts suffers under the hot, dry sun in the tank. One of my friend even mentioned that they look so delighted when my friend's rover supply them with water. I hereby salute to all these fellow NSF.

      BANG! Mission 3 is much more happening to me. Sparks & bombing could be seen & heard 'LIVE'. Fire broke out at the drier part of the forest after smoke grenades were thrown. I get so excited being involved in the 'war'. Sitting inside the chasing rover, trying to get the correct frequency channel for my officer. I am now so excited by thinking about that night. Simply cool. *Vvoooommm...* I were simply too tired during the second part of the mission 3. I dozed off and couldn't keep myself awake despite all the 'LIVE' actions in front of me, put up by the opposing army. Its much better than watching those mediocre war movies. I am not those war-movie-enthusiasts, mind you.

      The only negative part is the poor management, communications between the army and us. Oh, and the mosquitoes in the field. Me & Terence were bitten seriously. But i must also be thankful that i had Terence's rover by my side. It did helps to kill my boredom a little. My officer, CPT Daniel Lee & Driver, LCP Alex Siow are nice people and we enjoyed chatting. Hence, on whole, i did enjoy this reservist... though many would beg to differ.