Khairul Ruzaini: POP Oh!

Orion contingent arrived.

I was so glad both of them were there to witness it.

I feel a little weird as im typing these words out.
Its been more than 2 months ago since my last entry, and i should say NS made the brain function slower than usual.

Anyway, tuesday ago, it was such an emotional yet enjoyable moment I had as soon the MC officially announced, "Presenting to you, the TRAINED SOLDIERS!" And i knew finally, BMT days are over.

Im glad that i've made it through the tough trainings, long runs, several route marches and going up and down the standard obstacles. Not to forget, the endless 'knock-it down'!
During the 9 weeks being stranded in Pulau Tekong, I've gained (better) discipline, time management, armed combat experiences and of cos.. friendship.

It started with 51 of us in a platoon but 4 got injured and went out of course.

We experienced the ups and downs together, for example. being punished to go up and down the from 1st to 3rd level of our company building several times for falling in late. Countless sets of push-up to crunches to jumping jacks just because the minority didnt polish their boots.

On a positive note, we managed to get our 'revenge' on the sergeants and officers on the last night before we POP. It was like a night war, going on the whole night till 1am, drenching them up with a super-combo mixture of water, camo cream, prickly powder, toothpaste, detergent, combat rations and anything you can think of. HAHAHA.

Some of the highlights of my BMT:

Firstly, i had my rifle stunned by my sergeant during field camp! It was such a demoralising moment for me because i was so tired that i didnt sling the rifle properly before going to sleep. And barely 10mins, i woke up and realized i was hugging nothing but myself. Confinement for the week. Nice..

Secondly, I had the best timing for shuttle-run in ORION company! And I did it consistently thoroughout the 3 IPPT tests. :) Not only that, im happy to announce that im one of the 25 gold medallist for IPPT out of the 200 recruits in the company. aisey man.. haha.

And lastly, im pleasantly surprised that i was selected for the Drill Squad. Basically that's the so-called regimental marching and precision rifling. 60 recruits were interested initally but they wanted only 30. So they cut down, choosing the best 30, and i was one of them! haha lucky me. And you know me.. i was a total noob in marching before this, and to come this far, im happy for myself. To think about it.. the other 29 were previously from various non-uniform groups and i've been living with only soccer and malay cultural society. haha. We did decently well though, came in 4th in the drill squad competition.