atec stands for army training evaluation center and the exercise
they conduct for units (at battalion levels only) is actually the
battalion proficiency test (btp) but for short everyone just calls
it atec. only infantry, guards, cdos, and armor units will go thru
atec. arty have their FATEP
atec now has 2 stages, not just one times atec like a few years
ago.
atec stage 1:
it is a collection of tests that atec will conduct on your unit.
this is always based locally and often involves the atec coming
down to your unit to test you things like how to set claymore
mines, how to operate law etc. this is when all the theory and the
things you have learnt will come in handy. remember all the IA
drills of weapons and all that? you got to show the umpires you
know all that. basically it is a wayang show (atec also knows it is
wayang) and they want to see how good you are at wayang. only a few
will be selected to do each test but almost everyone in the unit
participates in one test at least.
now this stage 1 carrys a minor weightage on the overall atec score
(about 30-45% can't remember) but it is still very important to
score well here. why? because your unit will confirm perform worse
in stage 2 so stage 1 is for you to pull up your score. in fact
most units get 80%+ (a damn high redcon 1) for this stage. think of
it as like the MCQ part of exam papers. kio sai.
some of the things they test in stage 1:
weapon handling + knowledge
grenade throwing (a lot fail)
section battle drills (go outfield)
buddy aid
support elements got all sorts of tests
stage 2:
normally this is conducted in one of 3 countries : singapore,
thailand and taiwan. there is actually an equal chance of each
country, so there is 66% it will be overseas. stage 2 is
essentially one whole exercise. Your battlation against an enemy
company of OPFOR (opposition force). opfor is a special company of
soldiers (also nsf) trained by atec to be the agressors in such
battles. they follow the template of the saf agressor (northern
neighbour) and because they constantly fight with battalions, they
are extremely competent. they also are not really bound to saf's
"strict template on war" so they can do all sorts of unconventional
tactics. never underestimate the OPFOR. i would say they are better
than 80% of the units in singapore
the exercise lasts a total of 4day 4night. but is normally cut
short depending on how your unit has fared. an average 3 missions
is usually carried out. usually a Deliberate Attack (about
36hours), Hasty Defence (18h) and Quick Attack (18h) so by the end
of it is about 4days 3nights. There is an optional 4th mission
usually on 2 circumstances.
-your unit quite screw up, so far redcon 3 to 2b, they wan a 4th to
push you up to 2b to 2a.
-your unit quite good, at high 2a, they wan to push you to 1 (very
unlikely)
so you take stage one % plus stage 2 % add up your total atec
score. if i'm not wrong redcon 1 is 80% and most units never make
it. most get a 2A and 2B
