MWO Lee is a great OC, just remember to shout
GOOD MORNING SIR!!!!!!!!!!! the moment you see him
come out of his parked car.
I still can vividly remember the times when MWO
Lee was my OC in Mortar Commanders' Course in the Armour Training
Institute. He was a regimental OC, made us do arduous and
insane morning exercises to train up on our physical endurance.
Every morning, we woke up at 5am and ran countless number of times
round the track and immediately after that pushups, situps and
chinups. He placed much emphasis on our physical fitness and
discipline.
Many of my platoon mates complained because the
training was really intense, but it was not in vain,
as all of us besides 1 other guy achieved gold in the
IPPT!!! In fact, 95% of us got gold on our first IPPT!!! The
last guy got a sliver, and of course, MWO Lee wasn't going to let a
perfect record be gone to waste. So, the guy, poor chap, had to
undergo physical training 3 times a day, and by golly, I
accompanied him during his training since I was his buddy. He
didn't manage to get the gold but missed out by just seconds in his
2.4km if I am not mistaken. We were even surprised by our own
records, as there were people attaining a pass in BMT and now a
gold on their 1st IPPT in the specialist training
wing!!!
Our Armour Specialist wing was split up into 3
wings, Tankee, Mortar and AI, and mortar was the dominant one
during our batch. This was the golden age of Armour Mortar
Specialists, whereby we won the very 1st Challenge Trophy and
dominated the IPPT!! I still remember the Mortar cheer which he
made us shout every water parade and this made us stand out from
the rest of the wings, it was our special trademark.
MWO Lee came in as a new OC in the Mortar
Specialist Wing and we too came in as new trainees. Never did we
know that we would achieve things beyond our expectations during
our time as trainees there. I remember his shouting was insanely
loud and when things 'cocked' up, we would be given hell. But it
instilled discipline and perseverance in us. I remember when I was
made the trainee Platoon Sergeant, I totally freaked out cause the
previous guy was given total 'hell' and non-stop shouting from MWO
Lee. As we were a pretty small group, no more than 30 trainees,
every move and action of us were monitored and scrutinised such
that mistakes can be corrected and at the same time, mistakes were
'rewarded' by insanely loud shouting and pushups. All of the
appointment holders also had to write down the reflections and
thoughts in a scrap book during their stints as platoon sergeants.
My stint was a short one, fortunately, and I too had my share of
'beasting'. Lol.
After our 4 months course, we passed out as 3rd
Sergeants and we heard that MWO Lee was transferring to SISPEC
after our batch. We were a little surprised as he was only here for
the 4 months and was immediately posted out. I can say that we
respected him for his efforts in instilling discipline and
determination in us.
After saying our farewells and goodbyes to each
other, we were separated and posted to different units. Oh, and did
I mention, we did our mortar commanders' course with 3 other 2LTs,
whom would become our future PCs. And there was another MWO, who
also did the course together with us. I felt a little out of place
when we were practicing our field exercises, when I look down and
see that my planter is a MWO...Lol... All of us had to rotate roles
in the vehicle.
Anyway, we heard that SISPEC had moved to SAFTI
and MWO had been posted there as hotel company OC. I was from 35th
BSLC and SISPEC was still in Tekong then. So, I was wondering,
did MWO Lee push all of you to get gold in the IPPT? For
I believe he would do so, cause the physical training he conducted
was insanely intense during MCC and it definitely paid off. If you
guys did manage to get all gold, then he would have finally managed
to hit a perfect record.
Anyway, I was an NSF and I will always remember
the good old days I had spent with my mates during my days and
never will I forget the times I spent with my band of
brothers....