ORD Loh!

On Friday, I finished off the last of my work, handed over the last bit of duties, got the last of my clearance signed and collected my NRIC, the most coveted piece of little pink cardboard amongst Singaporean men. Today, one year and 364 days after I first stepped onto the ferry that would take me across the water to Pulau Tekong island, I have become officially operationally ready and am ready to re-embrace the civilian world.

Looking back at what has happened over the past two years, it sure doesn’t feel like all that long ago that I traded over my IC and got the green 11B back in exchange. Sure, the actual day of enlistment does feel a distance away but I can still remember vividly everything that happened on that day - seated on the training shed floor waiting to be slotted into my company, collecting my duffel bag full of army apparel and equipment, lugging the bag up several floors to my first bunk. And, of course, the haircut (although for me it wasn’t all that bad since my hair has always been short anyways).

Since that faithful day, a lot has happened.

I took part in all the BMT trainings that any recruit in the PTP programme would undergo, made good friends (a handful of which I still keep in close contact with), inexplicably had fun amidst the culture shocks and regimentation, and then passed out, with a big bang, parade and all, for my first slightly long break, a break which I never thought I’d see, back in the first week when time seemed to pass horrifically slowly.

Then, I got posted to my unit in armour, the place where I would spend the rest of my NS career. Having heard the horror stories of the rigorous and harsh trainings that armoured personnel have to go through, I tried my best to prepare myself. Still, the trainings were tough, much tougher than in BMT and, while the trade course did provide a brief respite thanks to the fact that it was located in another camp, I was convinced that I was doomed to suffer for the next one-odd year.

Thanks to a twist of fate, though, I got posted to the battalion HQ company (whereas before, I was in a combat company) where, while I was still an armoured vehicle operator, I was also given the chance to use my better, non-soldier skills, in an additional admin vocation. I preferred the different lifestyle, too, in HQ company (although that is not to say we didn’t have our fair shares of tough trainings and regimentation). And that’s where I learnt that, contrary to most people’s perceptions, the work in HQ company isn’t any easier or lighter than in the combat companies, just different.

Still, while there were tough moments and the occasional outfield were eye-opening experiences, I had a pretty pleasant time in my company and branch. The personnel were friendly, I made quite a few friends and, despite the pre- or post-outfield admin, high stress periods where we went from bed straight to work and then straight to bed at the end of the day, I actually had fun.

After two years, I’d say the unthinkable (at least to me, all those months back when I first enlisted) - that, while I’m definitely happy to ORD and resume normal life, I’ll actually miss parts of NS life.

Still, as they say, life must go on. Coming up in the next few months? A short rest, some preparation and then it’s back to school I go. To repeat what several hundreds of my comrades (probably) and I myself said at 12am on the 12th of June: “ORD LOH!”