Combat Engineer the unsung soldier

last SG · 2002-08-30T16:43:44+00:00

I'm not from a combat engineer unit - but I will always remember and admire their discipline and efficiency. I had a chance, a long time ago to train with th...

silkmagic SG

bigballs11 you really lead a charmed life in going through the three units (four if include SOCE), first being a beaver, then a polar bear after become an alligator and then an elephant. I thought that I have already gone for a lot of courses but you are really the man. But you get to enjoy life and know most aspects of the SCE.

Although I went to Plant Coy after my field engineer training, but I know how heavy the MGB can be as we tend to give a helping hand if required. Moreover a dozer is required to push the bridge across the gap and sometimes we have a certain situation whereby the dozer have to strain to push the bridge across or the dozer is actually lifted up by the weight of the bridge.

I understand how hard is it to work in the rain as the Plant Coy hates the rain because our vehicles tends to get bog down in the soft mud. Imagine the soil reaches your kneecap and you have to think of a way to get your vehicle out of the mud. Normally we will use a towing cable and use other vehicle to pull the vehicle out. Heh it is like being a mechanic except that you are carrying a rifle.

I can understand your feeling of doing pull up before every meal as we are still practicing it but we dont get to carry the mines everywhere we go as it is a stupid idea in the first place.

But the most thrilling and sian part is the activation drill. Being in a operational unit, we will have standby platoon who will be activated if there is an emergency. So in order to keep us alert, we will be activated at least once a week to check on our equipment. The thrill is that something may actually be happening so the suspense is there. But if it just a routine check whereby you have to lay out all your equipment and operate it then it is a yawn..Imagine that you have to keep all your equipment which may take a few hours under the hot sun. One time, we were activated because of fire in Stamford Tyres factory, which is near the camp. Boy, there was apprehension all round as we are combat engineer and not firemen!!! Laughing

Once an engineer, always an engineer.

silkmagic SG

Harimau has gone quiet after asking him about the Malaysian combat engineers ability. Laughing

bigballs11 SG

No charm life la, my batch 3 of them kenna the same fate as me, but 2 of them end up in HQ Registry Office, got lots of office girls, me kenna the weapon office, damn suay man Mad

I guess you are the batch after 1993, no chance tekan by those old hard core CE. No joke during my time in SOCE you really carry dummy landmines if you do less then 12 standard chin up, I think now they are more civilised because too many people end up muscle tear or back problem due to inhuman treatment. Even SOC, our SBO is twice as heavy as those standard infantry,they put lots of dummy mags and grenade plus 2 full water bottles. That time we do 2E+12 using brute force lay, no bulldozer unless we bulit the super long 2E+24 /w LRS or APB. Plant coy damn SHIOK, every CE wish to post there after SOCE, especially those that station in airfield driving the BOBCAT and maintain the runway, oh yes, somemore most instructors are female Mr. Green

Ya, 30 always got those activation drill, alway draw stores, load stores, unload stores, clean stores and put back stores, sian like fark, or run SOC Mad Mad Mad

bigballs11 SG

To know CE, U have to be one to understand the hardship, regardless it is Malaysian, Indonesian, Brunei, Thai, Fhilipinos, Singapore CE, all should be given the respect/credit they deserve. Equipment is secondary in this case, in worst case, you may have to chop down timber to construct a bridge. But newer equipment definitely helps to speed up the job especially during manuvere and contact.

Even in peacekeeping mission, the troops they cherish most is those CE that help them bulit ther infrastructure and not some gungho, trigger happy special units.

In fact Singapore CE has done some really massive projects like the whole stretch of paved road leading to the crusendo camp, the camp itself etc etc Surprised

silkmagic SG

Yup I am way after the 1993 batch. No much inhuman treatment was evident unless you count chnage parade until 3 - 4 am at night. SOC was tough as the wall in 30 is exceptionally high and difficult to clear. As for using a dozer, you must understand that we have a smaller section than before.

True, most CE would like to come to Plant Coy but I have yet to know of anyone that is sent to the airfield. Maybe they have remove the unit attached to the airfield. I know that to be in the Plant Coy, you have to be in 35 whereby they enjoy life with the sun, the sand and the sea. But come to 30, you have the sweat, the swear words and the shit. But nobody ever seeing us hard at work whereby we will have to grease nipples for our plant equipment. Do you know that a motorgrader has 100 over nipples and to grease everyone of them actually is a nightmare. Put me off the real nipples Laughing

Werewolf SG

LoL
old old we still using leh
me CANDACE platoon nia =)

but....we no learn build APB lah, they bring us to look look at it only
Mr. Green

Werewolf SG

...........................
seems like bigballs life most tough.......
den silk
LoL
my one not so bad..........
coz my course at SOCE damn short
den go float bridge liao
den morning build CANDACE, afternoon build CANDACE, night build CANDACE and den MIDNIGHT also build CANDACE LOL
Mr. Green

bigballs11 SG

Long long time ago, 35 also build long spanned APB on top of floating barges, but they stop it after getting the pontoon bridge/rafts.

silkmagic SG

Yup werewolf, bigball11 life seems the toughest. Imagine being a trainee for such a long period of time. But 35 seems to have a good life or that is what all my friends at 35 say. Course for plant is fairly interesting. We dig in the morning, afternoon and night. The only difference is that we use different equipment to dig different type of hole Wink Wink Wink

Werewolf SG

hah!?!?
my god
die lar
hahha

Werewolf SG

arh?
no lah
35 not slack lar...........
imagine carry 200kg CANDACE deck..........
*gasp*
den move out at night.......reach place 10.00pm or so
start building at 12.00mn
build two rafts until next morning at 5.00am
den start rafting.......
die lar
and with 30 ppl or so, building 2 CANDACE rafts....

silkmagic SG

Sorry I requote, being an engineer is tough whereever you are Laughing

Desert Fox SG

Think 38 ceased to exist for quite sometime liao. All AEs now are under Armoured Engineer Training Center or organic to SARs

bigballs11 SG

Cannot be la, if that is the case 30 will belong to infantry, 35 belong to navy, 36 report to police unit, then HQ SCE will have to close shop liao. Maybe for ease of command and control, the 38 individual sub units is organic to different SAR, but 38 and ATEC is still alive and intact controlled by the HQ SCE Shocked

silkmagic SG

The status of 38 is quite blur as at one time they are operational and then they go back to become AETC. Anyway, I have friends from 38 and at no time did 38 comes under the command of the Amour.

Our amour engineer tank are much bigger than the tanks from Amour unit. When our tank comes all must siam, as we have the biggest gun in the the army. Tua Bao Sian hehehe Laughing

Silenthunter SG

The AE tanks are actually M60 chassics. Yeah they are so big, our puny M113s and AMXs have to siam for them... their gun are the BIGGEST but also the SHORTEST......hahahaha Laughing

The gun is or demo only, not for combat.....and when the AE vehicle break it's giant track..............siao siao....the AE soldiers will Crying or Very sad liao.

Armored Engineers........super siong

bigballs11 SG

Armoured Engineer got 2 types, the suay one will end up in an overcrowed old dingy M113 rejected by the armoured units, whereas the more dua-ki one will drive the M728 CEV and M60A1 AVLB (which is actually an M60 tank) or the recently acquired CET. Those AVLBs I think weight at least 60 tonnes and for heaven sake always screw up the newly paved concrete ground no matter how much new patches you apply on holes/cracks created by these monster.

I think you can also roast chicken wings behind those hot exhaust of these 750bhp engines Mr. Green

No Frill SG

A salute to all the Engineers out there.
I was also an Engineer from SOCE way back in the days when SOCE was still in Jurong Camp II.
I was trained as a Field Engineer Officer but remained as an instructor for the Pro-term Enginner cadets for the next 2.5 batches. I do want to agree with all my brothers out there who have toughed it out as Engineers, whether you be a field engineer, armoured engineer, from 35, 36, or 39.

Who can forget the basic training of 12 chin-ups before every meal, running around with dummy AT mines, (ever kenna do jumping jack with AT mines?!?!), carrying rolls and rolls of barbed wire, concertina wire (then all your clothes kenna cut and ripped, boots also all kenn torn until water can seep in!), heaps of iron pickets, boxes of mines, MGB parts (who can forget doing a 2E+12 MGB in the middle of the night, knowing full well that if don't finish by H-Hour, the Armour cannot pass the gap...)
or laying minefield...dig all those little shit holes everywhere, lay the mines and retrace your steps along the white tape Razz if not instructor will step in to declare &^%(& casualty which others have to come in to case-vac him back to the start point...

But the best part must be playing with explosives...esp in Ex. Crescendo, wah lau, blow things up like nothing man. Ever seen a tree fly 4 stories into the sky?! or ever seen a succession of 12-14 trees blown sidesways, falling down together on the same side simultaneously to cerate an abbattis? or the hole left after a cratering charge has gone off! wah! the biggest damned hole i ever saw man! and the feeling of feeling the earth shake as you explode all the LFMs, Claymores, ADMS, Cratering charges and empty 2 magazines on auto into the target area from the hill top...better than sex man! haha

For all those who served, toiled, and bled, wept and bonded as engineers, advance and overcome!

Atobe SG

Salute to the early pioneers of the Combat Engineers in the island called Pulau Blakang Mati - now called Sentosa.

The horrors of haunted weekends doing guard and fire picket duties in the barracks, camp perimeter, and ammo dumps.

The horror of seeing someone losing a leg or finger while building the Triple Storey / Triple Thrust Bailey Bridge across a wide gap.

The terror of training under the 'Jowdi' Trainer.

The terror of being trained by the local officers who became as 'siow' from being trained by the 'Jowdi'.

The horror of the final week of Combat Engineer Officer Cadet Training that last for an entire sleepless week of attack, defense, and withdrawal; culminating in a non-tactical building of two bailey bridges spanning across the old Tampinese Road by a Platoon of Officer Cadet - to allow PWD trucks to work on the extension of Paya Lebar airport runway.

The terror of graduating as a young Officer and posted to command a platoon of soon-to-be "ROD" (run-out-date) of Hokkien-Teochew Toughies - most of whom can carry a Johnson 40 horsepower outboard motor single handedly on the shoulder.

Salute to all of them who remain great friends as Combat Engineers regardless of ranks, during chance meetings in civvy street.

LeFire SG

I don't know much about the combat engineers, but my recce team has passed some of them while they were working on some moving bridge-pontoon thingy (can't make heads or tails of it, but know that it can carry tonners on top) during a exercise in S'pore.

I admire those crazy engineers... their work (and carry) load is like KNN!!! Shocked

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