The world is black

Got a new look for my blog, and it's none other than the colors of my life; Black and white. Not gonna talk or elaborate much about it, just gonna take what's been given to me. Tough time don't last, tough man do.

Alright, let's talk about what happened for the whole of last week.

Today marks the end of a 3 days break after a long 7 days outfield which ended last Sunday. Out of the 7 long solid days, i think it rained for 6 days or maybe everyday? I can't even remember there's any period of time where the rain wasn't around, dripping on our soiled bodies.

The time spent out on the field wasn't that bad, just that you get to see the true colors of those around you. Called it human's nature or whatsoever, one tends to reach for help yet refuses to lend a hand.

Like what my Platoon Commander(PC) 2LT Tay said, it only takes a black sheep to sabotage the whole platoon. But most of the time, i would say it's more than a sheep, probably it's the lazy mindset of many that causes everyone to be punished.

The punishments we got during the 7 days wasn't really that bad, considering we only had a turnout. A turnout is when in the middle of our sleep, we are awaken by the thunderflash thrown by the commanders, and all that we have to do, is to pack up, make sure we don't lose any equipment, get geared up and move off as soon as possible.

The turnout we experienced was the last day of our field camp. Was told the previous night, our reveille time was at 0700hrs. The best timing one can ever get in SAF, prior to the fact that, the standard timing is always around 0515 to 0545hrs.

Thinking that we were given longer rest before we have to do our Battle Inoculation Course(BIC) in the morning, all of us wasn't prepared for the turnout which we haven't had before. Without much doubt, we screwed up the timing given for us to get everything sorted, geared up and gather together, thus we simply got the stick from them.

It was around 0530hrs or so when the turnout occurred, everyone was in dazed and one of my section mate even told us later on that he thought there was a real war. The loud thunderflashes and the shouting by the commanders did in fact shocked many. We did our punishments in Full Battle Order(FBO), while some of us are still trying to figure out what exactly happened.

This is probably the most "exciting" part of our 7 days field camp. Throughout the 7 days, some of us "lost" (during our sleep, the commanders will prowl around our tents and take away those rifles which are not clinged onto, we have to iterally hugged our rifles to sleep.) our M16 rifles over the night, some caught with possession of contrabands. Contrabands refering to wet tissues, mosquito coils or extra food.

As a result, some of them will be serving guard duties or confinements in due time. Thank god i wasn't one of those in the name list. Especially those caught with possession of wet tissues towards the second last day of the camp, i think they are rather silly. Cause we are told to surrender them on our first day of the outfield.

Probably they thought they could just hide and run off with it, but never did one expect that we are told to empty our fieldpack on the second last evening. Called it unlucky or what, probably that's how they instill discipline in us.

The 2 main highlights of the 7 day outfield are the trench digging and the BIC i mentioned earlier. For those who gone throught BMT before, they will have their fair share of digging and crawling to share.

On the 6th day of the camp, we all have to dig a 2m by 1m hole and it has to be around slightly less than a metre. Sounds and look easy, but trust me, even though i dug the fastest in my platoon, i took close to 3 hours.

And the reward? Blisters all around your fingers, you also get to lie in it, no back down, but body down in prone position and of cause not forgetting you are allowed to take some photos of it as souvenirs.

After the 3 long hours digging, the last and most tough one is to dig a 3m by 1m hole and i has to be chest level deep, taking the height of the tallest guy in the section. Sorry guys, i'm the tallest, so we dug around 1.5m deep. The relief side of this, is that the whole section present at that moment, 11 of us share the work.

Again, this took around 3hrs plus and that concludes the end of all the diggings. Starting work at around 0800hrs, we end the day around 1800hrs. Everyone was worn out, including me. But something i felt and saw that day was that, everyone was too self-centred. Everyone was for himself, only a handful was there helping out the rest when they are done with their own trench.

Not to mention the section fire trench, only some are putting in extra effort. Not sure how they felt or think, but i always had this thought whenever i wanted to slack, "I'm tired, i want to rest. But is it only me who's tired?".

On the last day, we went through the BIC. It's a course whereby one has to leopard and back crawl for about 80m, throught a series of barbwire. Live rounds are shot over our heads thus we have to keep low at all times, but when it's our turn, there wasn't any rounds fired.

Probably they ran out of ammunitions, since we are the last company to do the course. SAF is forever that screwed up in terms of planning, and trust me, many will agree on this point.

Overall, this outfield i would rate it as a good experience. After all, sleeping in the rain, having mud and soil all over you, eating those disgusting combat rations, getting punishments in FBO, isn't something one get to experience outside SAF.

On our last night, our company newly attached PC 2LT Wayne told us something which i felt quite true and it's something we should keep close to our hearts whenever we are going through hell.

He said, "How often or how many get to experience life with a group of guys, together for 3 months, sleeping together, eat together, sweat together, laugh together?". And mind you, it's a group of 49 for my platoon.

As always, there will be jokers out there, and they replied, "Have! All Singapore guys will have the chance to experience it. Made in Singapore!". Cause we are forced to do so? Haha, i'll leave that to individual interpretation.

Alright, before i pack up and start preparing to book in yet again, i'll do a quick update for my pilot selection. So far my status is that i've made it to the last stage of the selection.

First stage of the computerized test is cleared. Second stage of board selection interview is done too. Last stage of medical test is still pending. I've just told my medical on Monday, the moment i stepped onto the mainland over at Changi Ferry Terminal after my bookout, i was pulled out for the medical and headed straight to Eunos, Aeromedical Center, how unlucky can one get.

The medical probably is gonna take some take for them to access, considering they took 2 tubes of blood from us and i won't be surprise they are doing tonnes of tests with it.

So what's going to happen next is that after my medical is cleared, the 2 criterias i need to achieve would be IPPT Silver and Top 10% performance for my BMT cohort. I'll then be signing a 12 years contract as pilot, and 2 years of my National Service is included in the term.

As a result, i need 2 sureties(guarantors) for my contract. If i breech the contract at any point of time, meaning if i'm suspected of failing my training on purpose, or that i wanted to leave, i have to pay $500,000. What a sum to pay off. And this has to be done before i head off to Australia for my course. I haven't got the 2 sureties required, and they have to be 21 years old and earning an income of $800.

My University education will have to be put on hold too. They only allow Cat B status pilot to further their studies. According to them, Cat B refers to the flying hours clocked and it will usually take 2-3 years after being certified as operation ready pilot, to achieve that status. In short, i'll be like 26-27 then i'll get to go Uni.

Training during the first 2 years is tough too. Any point of time, you can just be cut off if you don't make the mark. 26 months is the minimum time one needs to spend and endure through, to finally have the gold wings on your chest.

The plus point is of cause the prestige and pay they offered. As a pilot, you're a commissioned Officer and trainee pay is at $1,998. As you go along, the pay is likely to double, tripled and quadrupled.

Even though it may sounds like a bright future, but as a trainee, it's not that bright. It's more like you're place on wire rope, having to make sure you stay on it at all times.

For now, i'll just be on the ball, taking what's been given to me. Keeping a positive mind and remain cheerful.

Lastly, just wanna say, no matter what i have done, i did them with my heart and soul. I placed my pride on the line and i'll never succumb to loneliess. So, either you are with me, or if not, so long and good night.

"Learn to let go when you know you will be losing it someday."