 |
|||||
|
November 07, 2004
Last week was my last week at Basic Training Centre Jalan Bahar Camp. After 7 long weeks, i was starting to feel at home there. Platoon mates were like brothers and instructors were like father figureto us. But just as i was blending into the environment, i got sent to the Civil Defence Academy.
11/07/2004 09:21:00 AM
I was posted to a vocation called Emergency Response Specialist, in short, ERS. During the interview with my Sir, i told him that i wanted to join the ERS and i guess his recommendation must have worked. ERS is basically a sergeant course which allows us trainee to learn firefighting skills, hazardous material containment and leadership skill for a duration of 6 months. To simply put it, we are firefighters who has 3 to 4 firefighter under our wings with one vehicle appointed to us. Guiding them through fire hazards and other kind of dangerous situations. But a firefighter course is only 3 months, so i guess our schedule wont be that tight. In Civil Defence, this is the 2nd highest vocation you can go. The number 1 vocation is B.O.C, a basic officer course, which are mostly filled with army NSF. Only a small number are actually from Civil Defense, mostly a rarity. So i was thrilled to get chosen even though my fitness level have yet to reach the peak. And now, im no longer a recruit, i am a trainee. In my 15th ERS batch, we have the most number of people recorded in its history. 106, can you believe that? There are some girls too, accounting only a mere 6 or so. The rest are guys. The environment there is totally different from the Jln Bahar camp, where you can just walk around without greeting those with ranks. All the big ranking officials are everywhere in CDA and failure to greet them can result in dire situation which you really want to avoid. There was once when a trainee didnt greet one of them, and he got a changing parade for 3 hours. A changing parade is where you run up and down ur dorm to change into different attire as instructed. One minute you'll be wearing your smart 4, the other you'll be in your pt kit, and the other in your swimming trunks. Therefore, always greet everyone you see or you'll be in deep shit. Within the CDA, people do respect you more than when you are a recruit in Jln Bahar Camp. Even the PTI (physical training instructor) gives us more respect than they do at my old camp, where even a slight scratch from one of us will result in 20 push ups. Now, i can scratch for 10 mins and nothing will happen! haha. And the morning 5BX+Morning Run is so much easier. I guess this is due to the fact that in my vocation ERS, we have really experienced people among us. Not only do we have NSF personnel like myself, we also have paramedics and firefighters. These people are in their mid 20s to early 30s. Some of them even have a family of their own. Firefighters from the Central Fire Station, Paramedics from Paya Lebar firestation and more are among us. They really have a lot of experience and dont mind sharing it with us younger people. We were supposed to be confined for 2 wks, which would actually be till next week, but due to some reasons, we were allowed to go home this Saturday. It was a relieve as some of the older guys really missed their family and children as we couldnt book out everyday. To be honest, this 2 wks will be the slackest week for us. Lectures from 8 till 5.30 really dampens my spirit. Id rather be out there doing some physical training. Another thing about CDA is that their food sucks. No kidding. Its totally the opposite of jln bahar, where the food tasted like heaven. For example, yesterday morning when the muslims was having their early breakfast, the rice was half cooked. Everyone didnt touch their own plate of rice and instead, just ate the hotdogs. Yesterday was one of the best days you'll ever have during a scheduled day. We jogged along East Coast Park for a total distance of 10 km and during that course of time, we sang our hearts out. People were looking at us from all directions and some were smiling as we jogged past them. Not forgetting the pretty babes! haha. Made us more motivated. I guess that shall be my entry as of today. Wanna meet up with Amir to go Geylang to get his Baju Kurung. haha. Enjoy the weekends... |
He
Andhikabbeckham/ernie 25.05.84 West Side Civil Defence In Love With Her Jurong Fire Station msn bbeckham@ hotmail.com email bbeckham77@ yahoo.com She
Shaikhahcookie monster ??.??.?? North Side Student In Love With Him
Blogs
AJ Junior
Sha Eiizumi Wirna Smiling Tiger Syazali Source Peekchures
My Deviant Artwork
Archive
January 2004February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007
Over It Think Against The Grain |
||||