a moment like this!
it's been a whole 3 months since the start of our journey in OCS, and it has now come to a pause...i guess it's also an end for many of us who are leaving for support arms. but looking back at what happened these past months, the journey has been more than worth it.
"I clearly remember going thru the SAFTI gate with my friend who also ended up in Foxtrot, how the senior cadet wished us good luck when he found out we were going to Foxtrot and the pride and gusto we had to be marching in OCS. That was 3 months ago and I’ll never forget the moment I received my junior bar with the lanyard. Honestly at the point of time, I had absolutely no idea what I was into.
Somehow, I’m glad I didn’t know.
Sometimes when you know something ‘bad’ is coming your way, you can only react in two ways: be prepared or be demoralized. And especially when you know it is almost impossible to complete, you’ll almost be demoralized. All in all, if I knew, I wouldn’t believe that I’d be able to pull thru till today. When you look back at what you’ve done, you just feel shocked that hey, you managed to complete everything that you never thought possible.
To me, I’ve learnt a lot about friendship and handling people. Sometimes people might be quiet, but that doesn’t mean they don’t care. And also, unfortunately, there are also those that relax a lot along the way and do not cooperate. I guess back in JC everyone was rather nice because it was a ‘necessity’, so I was rather shocked when I first felt so much tension and pressure among cadets. You start to realize that the world isn’t as perfect as it seems, but there are people who are trying to make the world perfect-er. We must be able to give trust to people that they’ll do their best, but at the same time put on your guard in case you fall into their trap.
I’ve also learnt about my limits and also learnt how to push them. I’ve learnt a lot more about myself than I’ve ever had. I guess I’m still the same person I was, except now I take lesser time to decide and have more confidence in myself to perform the best. The main weakness about me is my inability to be absolutely affirmative, so things will tend to go round the bend. My view on leadership is that even though we have to be affirmative and critical sometimes, that doesn’t mean that one cannot maintain his character and attitude. Sometimes when one uses too much force, it does not instill the right ideas into people, and vice versa with people who are too nice. However, we should never become a person too different from our own characters in order to achieve the leading effect, because our characters are what make us unique of each other. It is what makes a leader special from the rest.
Throughout this course, we’ve learnt a lot of basic skills that are not only necessary for the continuation of our army course, but also for the instruction of others. We, as officers to be, have to achieve a standard that makes us a notch above the rest, which can be extremely tiring and mentally exhausting at times but necessary. This allows us to demand the standard from our men in future, and let them have a better learning experience. I’m worried about what I’m going to encounter in the future, what my men will be like (or whether I’ll be leading men in the first place), but with a proficiency of these skills, I am definitely more confident in performing and instructing my men on what to do. It is hard to maintain that standard always though, through our busy training schedules, but it is a test of our time management skills and advanced planning. Stress also plays a heavy part, as we’re faced with physical and mental tests back to back. To me, this course is not only about learning skills and planning, it is a test of your mental ability to cope with everything that is happening simultaneously. In the real world, many things are happening all at once, so we’ll be more prepared to handle such situations in the future.
The instructors have played an enormous role to give us an engaging and interesting learning experience, as all instructors have different backgrounds and have different expertise, and this allows us to extract the best from what they have to offer. Besides tough training, they have also been really patient during admin to allow us to reflect on our actions, whether good or bad, and also to let us learn that being a leader is not only about the stereotypical ‘screwing and shouting’ of people, but more of an all rounded one that encompasses the virtues of patience and forgiveness. At the same time, they are role models to us, sharing their experiences with us and demonstrating what we’re expected to be through their daily instruction. For example, LTA Jeral’s peacekeeping mission to Timor Leste was inspiring, touching and also enabled us to realize that being an officer requires strong mental to withstand the test of external factors and even resist intimidation. All in all, this term of leadership has been entirely rewritten and redefined in my mind, not just being able to lead people, but to motivate and inspire them along the way.
Being in two men bunks, I’ve realized how important it is to be able to deal with people. In order for us to survive, we need to work as a team, and one way to build this cohesion is through interaction, understanding and sacrifice. I remember the first 21 days where 4 men, including me, in my section were living in different levels from our platoon. When things happened downstairs, we did not even realize till the end, and many of the critical timings were not relayed on to us. I guess at the start, that sense of cooperation and also section integrity was not enforced strictly, so things tended to get out of hand. It really made me learn that being a section member means that you’re part of a team, not an individual. Also, when we’re in the bunks, we learn more about our friends and their experiences, learning life lessons at the same time. This increased privacy allows us to form a closer bond through interaction and also daily activities together. I’ve learnt a lot about people and I’m now more aware of people’s personalities and characters, and how to deal with them at the same time.
Of course, cohesion activities like ‘field camps’, games and wing and school level celebrations bonded us even closer. This allows us to know who is better at what and allow us to learn from one another to improve ourselves further. At the same time, celebrations gives us time to relax and see a different side of people. A great example was the Foxtrot learning day, where we learned how to rollerblade and see the funny side of our instructors. The OCS challenge also showed us further how far teamwork, discipline and determination can bring us. The satisfaction of winning solo is pale in comparison to that of winning as a team, because you realize everyone did a fare share and put in the effort to make it possible.
In conclusion, although I am sad that service term is coming to an end and all of us will be separated, I find it comforting to know that I’ve put in the 101% effort and tried my best to make the best of the OCS experience. Also, I’ve known more people and gotten close friends in the meantime. I’ve learnt a lot and will continue to bring the Foxtrot spirit along with me to whatever formation I will be leaving for. That learning experience, that leadership experience, that friendship experience, that training experience, that happy experience, that inspiring experience…that Foxtrot experience!
"Every beginning has an end, but every end is a new beginning!" "
on the 21st of june, we concluded our service term with a 23km route march, and marks the start of our senior term. i guess even through our fatigue and blisters, we managed to pull thru without many problems, though sleep-marching and sleep standing. i guess after walking thru all the sites we've visited these past 3 months, you reflect on what you're learnt thus far, and look further towards the future. the memories, the training and of course the friendship. i must say that all of us have proven ourselves of being worthy to be named senior cadets! and we will continue to strive for the best!
of course, the end of service term has another landmark event, which was social night! hahax honestly speaking i was kinda afraid somehow, because it's a rather big occassion where you're supposed to bring a date and like...woah. hahax seriously i was nervous before that. it felt somewhat more exciting than prom, and hahax...i just really don't know how to put it in words but there were butterflies of course.
anyway, on that day itself, it seems like everyone was really natural and thanks to my date, everything feel in place really smoothly. all i can say is, the atmosphere at the legends was great, the food was really good as well! honestly speaking, it fitted in really well with the videos and memories, and not forgetting the Foxtrot idol...hahax. but all in all, i must really thank jiali for being such a wonderful date, for being so understanding and yep, thanks for making that occassion so special! :) shall save the pictures and memories for some other time, but even tho the week is ending, there are still many things to look forward too! and SOCJOT brunei here i come! i love you!