Your mentality before and after enlistment

last SG · 2007-10-01T21:41:46+00:00

Before enlistment, i thought, NS could be tt bad lar ... after enlistment ... i sometimes do wonder why the hell am i doing this ... but then, do the SAF st...

k2406 SG

Did your mentality towards NS change before and after enlistment?

If yes, how did it change?

I'm sure for alot of people it did.

Okay I'll be the first to admit I was aiming to go OCS/SISPEC before enlisting, but after that I just couldn't see the point...haha.

mhcampboy SG

I am still the same person before and after NS... Mr. Green

kengkia SG

i differ from campy…at least i now a better person now…is the character u bring along with u from NS…

LazerLordz SG

so, do you still keng? Laughing

kengkia SG

this would be the only that i will not change, what reason is there not to make me trying to keng...and there are tons of reasons for me wanting to keng... Laughing

Gordonator SG

when i enlisted, i hated NS like most NSFs thinking it's a waste of time, why go through all the torture and being treated like a dog?

but after i got into my unit, i started to change. i learnt to view things from a different perspective. i came to see NS as aren't that bad, it's how one chooses to handle it.

looking back it certainly brings back wonderful memories. and believe me, after u ORD, whenever a group of guys gather together, surely they will about their NS days. Laughing

dumbdumb! SG

hmm before i went in, i was quite afraid la. but i tried to look at it positively by thinking i'd learn from it etc.

after coming out, i admit i made a few good friends there, i had fun, i learnt how to lead people, gain their trusts etc.

but it was crappy in a way that i found out that people with high rankings are pricks and they don't deserve the respect they demand from us. Mad

borntolive SG

before enlistment, wanted to go to a shiong unit at all cost, although i got excema where i stand a high chance of downgrading, i choose to hide it especially during medical examination.

after enlistment, especially after a few weeks in unit life, i regretted my decision Laughing now i want downgrade also cannot.

goldevil SG

can de lor .

u tell mo u gt this problem , they downgrade u .

i think can be B, E or C depending on severity .

ispyyy SG

should be ah...
The first day after enlistment, is where the brainwashing starts...

brainwashing is part of training a soldier mah...

blitzonic SG

I was the first among my extended-family's generation to do NS, so quite sotong at first. More or less just live day-to-day through BMT & course time, I guess.

Also had quit NPCC during sec school -- didn't like the tekaning, & I mean real hazing by sadist Pre-U seniors -- so I instinctively just "squat one corner" dring the Tekong leadership tests.

Where I really grew up was about 21-22 months in. As my unit winded down to ROD, my BC called up the two A-Levels men in the BTY & issued an ultimatum: follow 6 SIR overseas for jungle training, or be recycled to 46 SAR to serve out the extra 6 months' NS. Rather than kena the extra operational time, I chose the former.

Brunei was super-siong. My SOC timing would improve by 50 seconds to 8:06 after the 5 weeks there! (Not bad for an ex-fatty recruit.) But I also picked up an independent streak, being my unit's sole rep in that Arty attachment (3 officers & 4 men of 4 different units). Not only must I fight alone for my off-in-lieus after my return (luckily with a new BC, with whom the bolder me discovered I could "boss" over"), but the unit itself had forgotten about me & left me stranded at the airport! Thankfully, a 6 SIR tonner gave me a ride, albeit dropping me off (illegally) along the PIE highway near my home. My COS was so surprised at my phone call that he didn't reject when I told him about taking 2 days' off (not proper SOP, mind you).

When I finally reported back, my buddies commented how "hard" I looked (quite true, I had shrunken cheeks for the first time in my life). I also found out about my double promotion to CPL during my absence. Not long after, I was inducted (2 weeks!) as a BMT instructor by the incoming Arty Training Cadre to help out with the new mono-intake. Quite senang with the recruits -- was voted most popular & the only instructor to receive everyone's signature on the POP photo ~lol~ -- & then, as they moved on to trade course, spent my last 3 months' clearing my 40+ days of offs/leave. My unit wanted to attach me out again to Thailand (as an Arty controller) during this last period, but the emboldened me made a big fuss & eventually they arrowed someone else. Wouldn't have mind going, actually, but the timing's all wrong for this lao-jiao by then ~lol~

k2406 SG

Eczema usually can downgrade to C9L9...see you want or not. I did.

My friend has eczema but he chose to go through BSLC. He said he would downgrade if he kena ASLC after that. Luckily he didn't...so now he's on his way to 3 stripes.

For me I didn't choose to be a commander (lost interest by the time BMT ended), so when I kena a shiong unit (was hoping to get sth like air force, MP, signals) I chose to use eczema to downgrade. Kinda regret it.

k2406 SG

For me, I can't help but feel that my 1yr10mths NSF would be somewhat of a blight or dark spot in my life.

I was an SSG in a top NCC unit during my sec school days, so I was generally positive towards NS before enlisting. I wanted to get at least 3 stripes on my sleeve. Of course, when enlistment date neared, I was still lamenting, "why must we serve." Haha. But I wasn't really scared or fearful.

Gradually throughout BMT, I slowly but surely lost interest in being a commander. From my own BMT experience, reading through forums, advice from friends who had served and my BMT commanders' personal accounts, I felt command school wasn't for me. Furthermore I just got attached before I enlisted (what a time huh. lol) and that definitely impacted my decision. I wanted to burn as little weekends as possible. I also hated route march with a passion...to me it's the most disgusting thing in NS. Even worse than outfield...

I also got tired of the inane 'wait to rush rush to wait culture' and the inefficiency in general.

My eczema tended to flare up in BMT (at one point, my bunkmate was even freaked out when he saw my back view in the shower cubicle cos of the open wounds caused by me scratching due to the eczema...) so I decided to use it to downgrade when I learnt (via an 'interview') that I would be posted to a particularly shiong unit. At the point I beat myself up for anyhow doing the computer test at CMPB during my medical checkup...

Things got really bad when I got posted to abovementioned unit. I lived in trepidation day to day, having to do saikang while worrying first about whether I could get downgraded and then later about what would happen to me. My unit also tended to ignore 'excuses' and push us to join in whatever training that was scheduled. Someone with high blood pressure and downgraded to PES E was made to join in a high risk activity...I grew even more tired of the army.

Finally, a resolution. I got downgraded to C9L9. A couple weeks later, I got posted out, but not out of the camp. Now I'm a clerk. In my camp, it's probably the worse of both worlds. I feel that as a combatant, if you're lucky to be posted into an 'interesting' vocation (read: NOT infantry or Guards or RP or Sea Soldier) there are at least interesting things to learn and experience to offset the general cons of chiong sua-ing. As a clerk or other service personnel, life's generally more slack and you get more time for social commitments and for yourself, whatever you want to do which offsets the mind-numbing and boring office work.

venny SG

well my ns life ended on a high note. with 4 million ppl celebrating wif me.... Mr. Green

Ponders SG

After my NS, i love my country.

I will fight to defend to my last breath.

I feel proud to have served NS.

I only hope NS can be forever.

vIn.Warrior SG

and i love soldiers like you! Cool

Unknown_X SG

gordonator & ponders: x2!!!

eurofighter SG

Same thoughts and same problems. From young I had a deep interest in the military and wanted to go command sch. I had ezcema since young but it improved much before I enlisted. After I enlisted in Tekong to a rather slack company, I got sick of the inefficiency and how things were done. I lost interest in going command school too. Worse was that I was posted to an Infantry unit as a rifleman. Life there was tough and couldnt stand the environment. My mindset was also totally different from that of the mono intake people who were mostly hokien beng. I decided to downgrade using my ezcema problem. My ezcema tends to flare up after going outfield for days, so after one of my field camps, I saw the MO and subsequently got downgraded to C9L9 temporary and finally C1L3 permanent. Right now, I'm still in the same unit but serving as a clerk.

you're from infantry?

vitasoys SG

before enlist : whao army seems cool
during 1st 2 week confinement : army is slack O_O
before field camp : army is fun,but tiring sometimes.
after field camp : fck the army.fck the field camp
after POP : more field camp more route march coming ( im 3sir rifleman )
1st week of ait : so far so good,alot admin time

HyuugaNeji SG

before enlistment: raring to go, wanna be officer.

within 5 weeks: injured my ankle (sprained) but not broken...cannot ooc. Also dont feel like declaring ooc. Live thro the pain and pass out of bmt. Slack thro the rest of army dayz as corporal.