New Unit, New Start

On Wednesday, I reported to my new unit which was 3SIB located at the Bukit Panjang Camp. The route to the camp was hilly and tedious and I was there by 9.30am. I met my seniors and OC and sit thru for the After Action Review for one of their exercises. That was the time I found out that my OC wanted me to become Platoon Commander for the CCIS (Information system). As the army evolved towards 3G, it will be a busy time for my platoon due to the trial going on. By November, I will be involved in an overseas exercise for at least one month.

Thanks to my OC, he gave me 2 days of off and I spent the whole of Thursday having KTV at KBox, Lot 1 followed by dinner at the Thai restaurant at Sembawang Shopping Center with my former Popular colleagues. Yesterday was dinner @ Sakae Sushi at NP with my secondary school friends.

Hopefully a new unit will provide another memorable chapter in my NS life.

Commissioning Ball Dinner @ Sheraton Hotel

It was a formal dinner that I will never forget. It was the night where all the 76 newly commissioned officer sat together for one last time before we moved on to our respective unit. The night was filled joy, laughter and fun. We reached at around 6.15pm where there was a pre-dinner event known as Memory Lane. It displayed all the photos taken for the past five months in exercises such as Ex-Virgo and Ex-Spitfire. My gf and I took an instant photo (forgotten what is called) by the event’s photographer.

The dinner commence at 7.30pm where the commander of Signal Institute arrives with an opening speech. It was followed by a band display by our very own group of musician. The dinner was of oriental style where it will start with the cold dish consisting of salad prawns, small octopus. Next the MC presented 10 different awards ranging from The top rat killer, Miss Signals, Mr Koon King to the Mr Extra-Ordinary (Awarded to those with the most extra duties).

The last part of the show was the Mr Chinatown where 3 selected handsome guys will be tasked to go to their respective tables to beatify themselves as shemales. Scarf, lipstick and flowers were used to decorate them. My platoon help to decorate the Miss India and he even did a Indian Dance and impressed Warrant Karu with his dance. The most daring thing he did was that he went to kiss Karu. Haha.

Overall, it was a night not to be forgotten for a while by the newly commissioned officer as it was night filled with joy and laughter. Thanks guys.

Cheers



Air Ticket for the Commissioning Ball

The Mr Chinatown aka Miss India 

The guys! 

Our Bunk mates 

Yeah Man! 

Signals Warriors 

Marching in of Colours 

The colours marching off 

Me with friends 

The gentlemens 

Me in No.2 dress 

Smiling Faces 

Proud owner of the sword 

May the sword unite 

Me with the sword 

Our swords 

The Grand Finale of OCS

Hours before the commissioning parade, I could sense the excitement from heartbeat down to my toes. Everybody was getting ready for the occasion and my day starts at 6.30am all thanks to my buddy who wake up early to polish his boots. After breakfast, my buddy and I decided to wake my friend who was still sleeping. We grabbed the four corners of the bedsheet and carry him to the corridor near the staircase. That was the fun part.

The main focus was the commissioning parade itself. By 3pm, all the admin stuff had been settled and cleared for. By then I was wearing my No.1 uniform. Sweating non-stop, I was drenched with sweat before stepping onto the parade square. Below are the timeline leading to the parade.

4.20pm: At the Warriors Hall doing final checks and warm up.
5.20pm: Proceed to Form-up place (FUP) near the parade square.
6.00pm: Start of the parade. Marching into the parade square singing “we are the one”.
6.00pm to 6.55pm: Inspection by reviewing officer and march past. Includes slow march up the grand stand to end the parade.
7.00pm: Marched back to parade square with my officer rank. As the MC announce that parents and friends are invited to put on the rank for the newly commissioned officer, I could see a swamp of spectators combing the whole of the parade square. My girlfriend, friends and my mother came over and help me put my 2LT rank on my shoulder. Next after the placement of the rank, we assemble back and threw our big cap as high as we could and WE ARE OFFICERS….

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

P.S. More photos on commisionning parade to come..

The colours party 

A family shot 

My 2LT rank 

My mother putting the rank for me. 

Commissioned liao loh 

The most significant day in military life

As to date, one of the most prestige event of this year must be the Army Appointment Certificate Presentation Ceremony. It was the time where all the sweat, heart and soul for the past nine months had been rewarded. Everybody was in for the excitement of getting the sword which had been so long awaited till this day. Yesterday at 6pm, the presentation ceremony starts and each and every officer cadet was presented with the shining bright sword from the guest of honour.

After the sword presentation, we had a formal dinner at the cookhouse. The main dish which was the salmon was quite good but we had to eat it in a formal manner. If not, we will have our name recorded for punishment. After the dinner, we had the OCS spirit at the cadet mess which displays the significant of each mixture. It was a memorable event as the recipient of the sword signify greater responsibility as a officer ahead for the rest of our NS life.

More photos coming soon…

Cheers

Can u guess which is me?

The formal dining-in

Me in No.1 uniform with my sword