Commanders.
Seriously, it's hard to fault the reservists for not being at
tip-top condition. After all, this was the 7th ICT, and nobody is
really at their prime by this time. Almost everyone is in their
early 30s, married with kids, and knowing how to chiong is at the
back of their minds.
The lack of medics is a serious issue. My senior medic has been
complaining to the S1 branch for the past few years about the need
to replace medically-downgraded medics with fighting-fit ones, but
nothing was done about it.
In the end, at the ATEC AAR, the senior medic blew his top and
exclaimed that safety had been severely compromised as a
result.
After all, one less rifleman just simply means slightly less
firepower for the exercise. But one less medic can lead to a
life-or-death situation when one guy goes kaput and there's no one
nearby to attend to him.
somehow, this problem hasn't gone away...
i was the downgraded medic but still placed in the orbat because
they wanted the numbers... as long as i was there, even if i was in
the medical centre while the rest of the battery was out at some
god-forsaken place, the numbers showed "enough manpower"
until the other 2 combat-fit medic decided to keng their way
through the ICT, no-showed exactly during the exercise by calling
in MCs...
i told the BC that as long as they kept quiet about it, i go for
the exercise with them to ensure no one died or whatever because of
lack of a medic, the ICT would not be cancelled after a week of
preparation..
we went off, the 2 other medics got to come back for the rest of
the ICT (even made to report for the last saturday after the rest
of us were out-processed on friday) and their 2 weeks was not
tagged as a high-key ICT..
there were supposed to be more than just 3 medics for a
battery... the BC was angry but HQ didn't supply any more and kept
me in the orbat anyway...
