Planning to sign on? Read this.

last SG · 2007-08-31T20:02:49+00:00

Disagree and agree. Disagree.. If you are sponsored by mindef to any uni to get a degree. Come back with honour class IIa and above. Get couple of 'godfathe...

alwaysdisturbed SG

i think its one of the factors which many overlooked.

the pay is definitely higher than private sectors. but its liable for a call up anytime. so its like 24 hours on standby.

t_a_s SG

the goverment say extend retirement age to 65, then SAF must do like wise

SpecOps87 SG

LOL...agree. Not only that...they must re-hire all the Enciks

kerts SG

agree wif u, but seriously those laid off by e saf n those who decide not to continue like me still find it hard to survive.

So envy u, i still gotta do my tupid reservist this coming monday, paid miserably sums n gotta do shit work, for example, those regulars there all try to siam, dun wan do shit work n they told their CO they very busy no time to do, suggest getting reservists in to do, n they got it their way. But almost EVERYTIME i saw them, they were "busy" chitchatting away, talking crap, talking over e phone, doing nothing n even xtreme which i dun wan state here...

haiz... where's my Reservist Training??? why this Shit work???

not many ppl can be like u, leaving sg, cos we find it hard to leave n start anew. anyway urs will be like a dream all of us r striving for! Smile

coldcar SG

Hi,

I think I share the same view as the TS.. I was once a regular too, in Commandos and same like you, i served a total of 6 years. I signed on not because of the money but for the honour of being the best as I was graduating soon from Poly, so I thought why not try to be the best in SAF as well.

And because I got good grade(I got Cert of Merit for my Diploma), I am quite confident that I can I can get a place in Uni, and Army Recuitment Centre also promised that if I can excel in my BMT, I can convert to Officer. So why not?

And I tried my best, and got Best company trainee during my CDO BMT in Hendon Camp. I was selected to go leaders' course, which is a course to upgrade to 3SGT, and also a path to go through whereby they will select the top 15 trainees to go OCS. I was ranked 8 so I was selected to go. And went for my OCS Airborne COurse, and on the day we going to do our first jump, our then CO called up 3 of us and told us we cant convert because we were from different contract. I was like WTF, previous batch all did it, but why stop? And his reply was because those who convert to OCS cant excel in SAFTI, thats why they stopped this conversion.

My world was torn apart, and I remained as a spec throughout my stay. Pay was good in CDO, but life sucks ever since.

I just ORDed in July earlier this year and have yet to get my gratuity. SAF sucks, to me they will always delay in giving you money, but if you do any mistakes, you will see money deducted on your next pay. That's how efficient they are.

But I am happy man ORDing and getting out of this F*Cked organisation. I am now a happy man manning 4 mobileshops island wide... Life might be tough, but at least satisfying.

To those who's planning to sign on, ask all questions before you sign on the dotted line. Because they can change anything they wan which is not stated on the contract.

Cheers

Vin

crimson soldier SG

wow. very interesting posts by all these ex-regulars. please contribute more Cool

Lim Wei Ming SG

Well, even if you never signed on, we still have to serve those 10 years of reservist shat and will still have to take IPPT until 40 years old. Evil or Very Mad

Manager433 SG

Corrections. The one u mean is not Radm but COA right? A BG who quit SMRT. The Radm u talking about is Kwek Siew Jin ( correct spelling?) He is a good CEO at that time.

Manager433 SG

No more 40 yrs old. Once u r in Mindef Reserved, no need to take IPPT. I turn MR at the age of 34.

syncopation_music SG

ya i was thinking have a gathering of all ex-regular of this thread

all ex-regular who interested ,i can give my hp upon Private msg

sit down and talk abt the good old days of serving the creed sitting on top of the sabre , anchor and wings

Cool Cool

syncopation_music SG

initially i have problem accomodating to the outside world , as the interviewer always frown seriously when looking at my resume mention "in the military for 6 years "

seriously its a sad fact , they think most regular who left are those who cannot make it .

of course i met ex-regular who interviewed me ,was very informal and not so tense up

Cool Cool

over the years i come to the conclusion that papers and experience is impt in present society

Cool

Lim Wei Ming SG

Pardon me, I was stuck under a rock back there. Laughing

citymax SG

Hi, interesting topic. i am a regular serviceman in the army. same as TS, i got into the army during my times in the poly. Im doing good in the army, but life sucks in the army…dealing with stubborn officers and ridiculous enciks. I wish to leave the force but due to my commitment, married, car, house, family… how to leave??? now i getting a degree and gona leave the army next yr. so pls get a degree when u find life is suck in the army, dun force urself to do work that u dun like for the rest of ur life. Remember u only haf one life,live to the fullest and dun regret it.

Othello_Red SG

so much for the "be all you can be" adverts

caleb_chiang SG

just bear in mind that any work related in the military is considered no experiences in the working world. Rolling Eyes

the_fallen SG

this is just the tip of the ice berg..

there are a lot of negative sides to working for them..

outsiders will never ever know the dark sides unless there's somebody from inside who's willing to share...

luckily for me, i choose, made up my decision, to down-grade to the Lowest Pes possible and get the 2 years done with and proceed with my life.

Still in the process, but thanks to my NCC experience in the passed, i got a glimpse of the actual life (not that tough version) back when NCC still can be tekan by the seniors and use lots of colorful languages..

actually there's a lot of mis-leading factors which helps portray a good impression on the majority via Advertisements thus complains will only surface after every transaction.

it's like after serving the bond, and at the right time, than will people share.

but often, not a lot of people will learn from other people's mistakes.

Many people choose to go through the process on their own, banging their heads bloody etc..

if only there's more listeners who will learn to treasure people who are willing to share their experiences...

the_fallen SG

i beg to differ.

if you look at the past, only the top fliers of the SAF (3 Star Generals) will be recognized by big major corporations and stand to enjoy big fat pay-salaries.

Thus there are still chances, but those chance of getting into a big MNC company via SAF belongs only to those high rank personnels inside.

lwflee SG

You mean the GLCs don't you? Those are not representative of 'big major corporations'.

the_fallen SG

Do u mean Government Link Companies?

SpecOps87 SG

Ps. pardon my ignorance all the laojiaos here...but care to share your take on the 3yr scheme for officers? They told me its 2yr NSF (to be considered as regular) + 1yr (also a regular), end up I counted that 3 years can get about 80-90K incl. of bounty, bonuses and salary.

My intention of signing on the dotted line is that I wish to pursue higher education as my family is just middle-income, with dad getting CPF next Jul and mum getting her's in 2years. What do you guys think? Is it advisable? Because I do not want to rely on my parents for $$ during further education, i figured that since I'm enlisting next year, if I were to take the 2+1 scheme I would be like 24 when I end contract and be 25/26 when I end my further studies.

Please advise. Feel free to PM me.

Thanks,
SpecOps87

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