So i am finally home. After 16 days in CRESCENDO (now called thailand forever more...) and 7 days outfield...i am finally home. What a trip! My BATTLEKING was never as bad as this, but i guess it's because BATTLEKING is an instructor's exercise. How ironic...the cadets are there and everyone tells them that it's their exercise, when in actual fact it's only ours? Sigh. I guess the true meaning of commissioning is re-hashed upon us when it comes to cadets. One can see that they do not have to bear much true responsibility. I don't have to explain much more, nor do i have to raise any case examples. It's pretty much self-explanatory, and those who haven't experienced it or who have passed up the chance to probably won't be able to relate to it, anyway.
I suppose better things could be said about the weather, though. Rotten, it was! Maggots. Still, we got impressive shots of things you never get in Singapore! They'll be posted later, of course...i'm not done transferring them yet...haha...
Opinion is much divided about the cadets. There are those whom, sadly, nobody wants and there are hot property which people will kill for. Well...to those of you who attented this 44th BATTLEKING as trainees, well...you know yourself best. I'm not here to vouch for anyone, or to say that anyone is a maggot, for fear of repercussions as above.
Except for someone who can't topo to save himself...
The dudes were fun! ryan, kuek, junkiat, guanseng, joshua, garrick, kelvin, ben and my interesting thai driver! (sorry if you read this, but i don't think i can spell your name properly...) it was fun doing sentry with you guys, watching MTV Jackass, smoking, eating, watching anime in camp, and generally slacking off! Hawhaw...
And also to my 43rd FAOCC bitches, forest, pornoman, jason, SOH, eugene, hian yi, shixian, josie...have i missed out anyone? Anyways...it's nice coming up to Sai Yok again to rot...and well...it certainly is a treat to go up with some old friends...i mean, well, that's the other plus point of going on exercise...wonder who i'll be going to THUNDER WARRIOR with. Hmm...
A tad too much rain was indented for this exercise...which ultimately led to soft, muddy grounds which vehicles got stuck in, insanely hot days but some cool (or freeze-your-balls-off-cold) nights, no mosquitoes (although sleeping in sai yok was a killer due to the funky mattresses, mosquito raids, and the heat. So i guess i was quite thankful for the rain post-ex, because for once we could wrap up at night,) wet socks and boots, kuek and kelvin all starkers in the deployment ground bathing in the rain, and...well that's about it...
My boss-to-be, cpt sim, was demanding, but fun also...sometimes it really pisses you off because he can make so many demands but then again he's actually quite an okay dude! But i wonder if i fucked myself up in front of him...to me it seems like only one ground passed his concealment demand...which was pretty damn demanding indeed considering how all the big fucks were coming down...i won't tell anyone about the section's little escapade to B20A! haha...
But having him go up also was good. This BATTLEKING was like a learning experience for me, where i picked up a lot of details on operating the radar which i never really knew. I shall consolidate it later today, i suppose - it's worth it. I feel as though this BATTLEKING has not only seen me as an instructor, but also as a student - i've learnt what's fundamental to my trade and have come out all the better for it. sim is damn knowledgeable and i guess it was my fortune to be able to go up and learn from him.
Sadly, BATTLEKING also reflected how much AI thinks of 24 SA. Our cadets are outcasted. Other cadets are already bad-mouthing them. Somehow a lot of blame gets pushed to us. Either our unit has been cursed, or it's just simply a bad time to be there. I think i'll be frank in my opinion here. I have no issues letting my cadets run their own section, make their own mistakes because ultimately they'll learn...is that wrong? Maybe because we don't have to deal with live-firing but still. Two differing schools of thought.
Bah. Screw that. We're back! It's over! Pictures to come...
posted by quatscherei @ 15:02
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