Originally posted by kindaichi83:
I am saying that once they confirmed that only combat will
be getting the 'pay rise', I will write to complain.
My agruements:
1)[b] The service personnel, especially those in the logisitics and
maintainence have to do lots of physical work everyday. Including
carrying of heavy loads, cleaning up big tanks, loading supplies.
They are as physically exhausting as those in combat side. Compares
tp those instructors who sit around doing nothing all day., they
deserved better.
2) Those in clerks vocations, have tons of paperworks to do. Some
of which are very important and they always have to rush reports.
This no doubt gives them mental stress so they deserved
better.
3) Most combat personnel get to stay in. They don't need to have
transportation allowances. Service personnel are likely to go home
everyday. They need their transportation fees and of coz dinner...
Combat get 3 meals a day. Service only gets lunch.
4) They already have their combat pay. What more they want? Service
are as dangerous as combat. Some deal with ammo, some deal with
tanks, some deal with heavy machinery, some deal with tons of
highly sensitive paperworks, all these are as dangerous as those in
combat.
5) Service personnel are always the ones to be tasked to do sai
kang. Because combat people are more important, sai kang always
left to the service personnel.
In other words, SAF SUCKS!!!!!! They looked down on service
personnel. Without us, the SAF could'nt work at all. GO TO HELL,
top personnel of the SAF. [/b]
I totally agree with you, especially the fact that logistics and
maintenance do form the backbone fo the SAF, and without us, the
combatants would be fighting with guts and bare hands.Many do not
like to face this fact, but who does the grunt work for the
combatants to fire their weapons, drive their Bionixes, sleep in
their bunks, eat at the cookhouses, jump out of a plane and land
safely...the list goes on.
Maintaining the increasingly lethal and complex weapon systems is
no mean feat.There is a reason why NSF technicians and ammo
personnel are given Specialist ranks..Due to the very specialised
and vital tasks of their jobs.How many combatants do understand the
whole process of getting that often- IA SAW or L7A1 GPMG fixed?They
merely see the process of sending that defective weapon to the unit
armourer, then their loop is closed.Do they see the high stress
level involved in shouldering the repair and upkeep of the entire
SAF's inventory of small arms and heavy arms? The term "Service" is
a misnomer.We are not living in wonderland as most uninformed
combatants perceive us to be.Yes, the only privilege we may get
over the combat vocationalist is the higher chance of staying out
in a 8-5 job.But our work is just as onerous.
This is not to say that we are bitter towards our brothers in
combat, its more of a deal which has been found wanting for a very
long time.Put us in company-level combat SOP and we might screw up
the whole show, place a Guards BRC to interact with DSTA, ODE or ST
Logistics, or handle the documentation, maintenance programs and
perform BCMIS costing for a whole formation, and he might be at a
complete loss.We perform equal but dissimilar tasks, and
furthermore as conscripts, we do not have a choice in our posting
or vocation.What is needed is fair remuneration.Any increase in pay
should not allow too much of an imbalance between vocations and
smart pay polices to compensate at unique levels of need are
required.If there is a pay increment, it should be across the
board.Nothing more, nothing less.We serve the country, let her be
an appreciatve mistress. 
