The Tekong Fortnight

And it so came from the OC that we can talk any cock outside about this preceding fortnight, as long as we stay away from the details, which was a little hard in thinking exactly how detailed I can get here. All the same, I think I can throw in the details like the expressions on the sergeants' faces when they fire the machine gun blanks all over the basketball courts like nobody's business.

Us recruits had some issues with this camp because
No bathing for the whole time until day 6, otherwise use the powder
Combat rations that you can bury in the soil for a year without it turning bad
The camp straddles Saint Valentine's Day
You can't call back home
You can't call your girlfriend
You sleep in the forest

It was okay though because I don't have a girlfriend and I don't need to worry about my family and I can eat anything that's food and I like the powder and if I find a good spot to lie on the forest floor it doesn't have much further to go to make a bed.

Might be said that day 8 was the first time in my enlisted life I felt really tired
because we had something called Exercise Thunderstorm which can be said as a Commando version of the Amazing Race. It started at midnight when the company was sleeping at the courts. Then came the loud noise, the floodlights, the ersatz grenades flying all around, the machine gun firing blanks, the madman expressions on the sergeants' faces who were firing blanks and running around etc. which managed to wake us all up. And for the subsequent hour came the POW treatment and extreme physical training and by far the most memorable part of day 8.

The rest of the day was a revision of all we had learnt for the whole time, plus a test for teamwork. By this time we have had more time to rest before marching back to the jetty for 7km.

I would have guessed that 7 kilometres are no big deal because I walk around all the time outside, but the heavy pack and rifle and hot sun made some difference. And two days later today we had some more marching. Hell, I didn't like to have to depend on my detatchment mates, but I was heaving like a truck stuck in mud and having a whale of a time trying to catch up with the others.

I might say more but my shoulders are aching and I need to rest my feet where blisters have found their home. Never mind. You might find me in better times ahead, and I can tell you about life in the wild and hope you get used to NSman drivel.

Watch my punctuation