Tonight, 224 Cadets received their Swords
Perhaps one other guy will be updating his blog tonight, that's Reza on my friends list. The Appointment Certificate Presentation Ceremony lasted an hour, where each one of us were presented our swords with our new rank printed with our names on the blade. Brigadier General Neo, commander of Tradoc shook each of our hands and gave us the swords and appointment certificate.
I held the cool sword in my hand, feeling a mix of emotions. Just this same week Monday, i passed my SEOC, at 27:27min, veto factor to commission. A week ago, i was the only pending out of course case, suffering from a 38.7 degree fever, teetering on the edge of the fate. How much blood, sweat and tears have i shed to come this far: climbing the thousand foot mountains of Taiwan, going without food for 6 days in Brunei, countless missions, down to lesser but no less discomforting things like wearing camo for a week, scooping out water after a storm while waist deep in mud of your chest deep trench you've been digging for the last 9 hours, forest fires, bank robbers, sleepless nights of churning out ops orders or turnouts, sandfly bites, leeches... There has been so much pain, so so much pain. Being told off, getting your dignity shredded away, your pride destroyed, your hope crumbled, personal time confiscated, money extorted (by the SAF), joys taken away, freedom imprisoned, love kept away, dreams dashed.
And it ran through me too the wonderful things i've found: discovering fighting spirit, being at the mentally and physically fittest time of my life, six pack abs, brothers who picked me up when i was down, understanding honour, integrity and belief of my abilities, close friends to confide in and suffer with and spur you on, a cool ass rock band, cheap army beer, sabo sessions, shooting heavy weaponry and feeling its power, commanding a platoon to achieve your objectives, and i've said before but i'll say again, brothers in arms. I've met some of the coolest people and friends.
And this mix of emotions left me unable to identify and state my feelings when i held my sword. I looked at the inscription "2LT KOH SHUN XIANG SIDNEY" and let the conclusion set in, that all of the above came to this and a journey as a commander. Ahhh... it's indescribable.
My ex-wing commander, father to all of us, LTC Jasvant said, we should mantain our OCS journals till we kick the bucket, because only by internalizing our thoughts may be have life long learning. I had to blog once i came home to do just that. The journey is still on, but one phase is almost over. Next week, my commissioning parade.
Nil Sine Labore - Victoria School's motto, Nothing Without Labour.
Perhaps one other guy will be updating his blog tonight, that's Reza on my friends list. The Appointment Certificate Presentation Ceremony lasted an hour, where each one of us were presented our swords with our new rank printed with our names on the blade. Brigadier General Neo, commander of Tradoc shook each of our hands and gave us the swords and appointment certificate.
I held the cool sword in my hand, feeling a mix of emotions. Just this same week Monday, i passed my SEOC, at 27:27min, veto factor to commission. A week ago, i was the only pending out of course case, suffering from a 38.7 degree fever, teetering on the edge of the fate. How much blood, sweat and tears have i shed to come this far: climbing the thousand foot mountains of Taiwan, going without food for 6 days in Brunei, countless missions, down to lesser but no less discomforting things like wearing camo for a week, scooping out water after a storm while waist deep in mud of your chest deep trench you've been digging for the last 9 hours, forest fires, bank robbers, sleepless nights of churning out ops orders or turnouts, sandfly bites, leeches... There has been so much pain, so so much pain. Being told off, getting your dignity shredded away, your pride destroyed, your hope crumbled, personal time confiscated, money extorted (by the SAF), joys taken away, freedom imprisoned, love kept away, dreams dashed.
And it ran through me too the wonderful things i've found: discovering fighting spirit, being at the mentally and physically fittest time of my life, six pack abs, brothers who picked me up when i was down, understanding honour, integrity and belief of my abilities, close friends to confide in and suffer with and spur you on, a cool ass rock band, cheap army beer, sabo sessions, shooting heavy weaponry and feeling its power, commanding a platoon to achieve your objectives, and i've said before but i'll say again, brothers in arms. I've met some of the coolest people and friends.
And this mix of emotions left me unable to identify and state my feelings when i held my sword. I looked at the inscription "2LT KOH SHUN XIANG SIDNEY" and let the conclusion set in, that all of the above came to this and a journey as a commander. Ahhh... it's indescribable.
My ex-wing commander, father to all of us, LTC Jasvant said, we should mantain our OCS journals till we kick the bucket, because only by internalizing our thoughts may be have life long learning. I had to blog once i came home to do just that. The journey is still on, but one phase is almost over. Next week, my commissioning parade.
Nil Sine Labore - Victoria School's motto, Nothing Without Labour.
Sid found concrete manifestation for abstract/complicated/foolish/affected/inebrieted musings at 3:17 AM
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