Out With a BANG (Last Week of BMT pt1)

We booked in on a Saturday afternoon, the last time we take a ferry into Tekong for BMT. A short wave to my parents and a "see you at the floating platform", and we were on the boat heading towards holiday island for the last time. This week was going to be very packed. There were many lessons that were missed out or postponed due to the events that had happened the previous week. Thus, most of the items were pushed to this week. High key events such as grenade throwing and the Battle Inoculation Course (BIC) were due to happen this week along with our Graduating Parade (GP) rehearsals as well as our 24km route march. It was an exhausting week indeed.

"Grenade prepared and ready to throw, sir!"

Sunday marked our live hand grenade throwing. We were transported to the live throwing site where we were taught the basics on emergency drills and the latter in the case of an emergency. We had already practiced using dummy grenades the previous week, but nothing could prepare us for the real thing. Some handled their grenades feverishly, like a hot potato, ready to go off at any time, anxious and worried. While others kept calm while handling their explosives, knowing that that thing in their pouch won't go off until the rings are out and the fuse is off. While waiting for our turn, we heard grenades those throwing go off. Its loudness could be heard from more than a length of a field away. A low, but loud bass drum "boom".

As my detailed was called up, we were moved to the ammo collection point where we drew our live grenades. Weighing in around the weight of a can of cola, I pocketed the grenade in my left grenade pouch, just as instructed. We were then moved to the grenade throwing bay where we would meet our platoon commanders, in charge of the safety of their recruits. Once in the bay, we waited one at a time for the other recruits to throw their grenade, before my turn arrived. As instructed, I took out the grenade and prepared it with a twist and a tug of the safety pin.

"Grenade prepared and ready to throw, sir!"

"Throw grenade."

"GRENADE!"

I barely saw where it landed before I was pulled down by my commander. A safety procedure. After about 5 seconds. Boom. We both stood up, and all that remained was black smoke.

That's it folks, grenade throwing.

Honestly, it was not something I imagined. From far, the force and impact of the explosion seemed very large. But when I was at the bay, it fell far from what I expected. Perhaps it was because we were bracing for the explosion, or whatever.

Battle Inoculation Course (BIC)

The very next day, we were scheduled to go through BIC, which in short, simulates real battlefield conditions. Live rounds flying overhead, explosions and chaos. As recruits, we were supposed to clear the course, take down a few targets and most importantly, do all of these while leopard crawling. We were scheduled to do BIC in the afternoon and it was to our horror that it started to pour a few hours before our course. And of course rain means mud.

"Environmental effects for added realism"

By the time we reached the course, the have rain had become a drizzle. But the course, however, was all squishy. Nevertheless, we started the course.

BIC is approximately 100m long, with obstacles such as a tunnel, a car and even a trench right at the end to crawl through. In the meantime, our commanders were on a 5m elevated platform, shooting live machine guns at a target board above us. Also, there were large covered up speakers on the grounds mimicking grenade explosions, enemy sirens and even screams.

As realistic that I had painted it out to be, the actual course run through was far from what I had expected. Yes, MG rounds were flying "Above our head" but you will never really be in any danger of getting hit. I heard from commanders that in order to get hit, you probably need to stand up and jump. Far from where we were, leopard crawling on the ground. The battle noise simulators were just, well, noisy. Perhaps I was expecting too much from something like this, haha. But by the end of that 4 minutes on the grounds, we were covered in mud. I remember, while heading through the tunnel, water from the rain earlier, was sloshing at my knees and arms. The experience, in my opinion, did not felt worth getting this dirty. Long showers and hard scrubbing of our clothes awaited us back at bunk.

With these two high key events over, there left only 2 things in our way, our Graduation Parade and the grueling 24 click route march.