I was posted to the Combat Engineers after my BSLC, that was
like 10 years ago. Never looked back. Enjoyed myself in the unit.
Was thrown into one company that was going to ORD in six months
time. The men in the company were a bit more difficult to handle as
they are considered old birds. But slowly won them over by knowing
when to have fun and when to do work. Although I am no longer
serving reservist with the same batch of old birds, I am still on
good terms with them. Meeting up for BBQs and stuff.
After doing etap 2 with the guys in Thailand, they ORDed and I took
over an entirely new bunch of guys. Trained them through from BMT
to their first stage of Engineer conversion before I ORDed. I am
still in contact with this bunch of guys too, meet up once in a
while for dinners.
During meetups, you see some guys getting married, buying cars,
having kids... and talk about good old days.
If you were a trainer/instructor you can never feel or understand
this aspect. And this is something that I treasure a lot.
In reservist now, in charge of another bunch of guys. Good guys
these. Totally enjoying myself. If you were an operational soldier
in an active unit, it is always easier to get assimiliated with
soldiers. But if you were a trainer/instructor during active
service, you might struggle to gel in with operational soldiers.
The way you handle them is totally different from the way you do
with recruits/trainees.
And it is not always siong. There are training/exercises and
standbys. But there are lull periods too when it is possible to do
practically nothing for the whole day. And once operational,
training will take a more relaxed tone. It is also possible to have
fun too during exercises if you can mix well with the guys.
My choice? Definitely joining an operational unit.
