Project White Star

Coming back to civilization after 5 days outfield, was a surreal experience. Buildings, lights and beds were like a fictional fantasy. As field camp ended on a Saturday, we had to be "confined" till the next weekend as it probably made no sense to make us book out on Saturday only to come back hours later on Sunday. Many of us were weary after FC and wanted to go home. We started to feel the strains of an incredibly regimented life on our shoulders, and we yearned for just a bit of freedom.

Sunday was labelled as a "rest day" so we were not scheduled to do any physical activities. We didn't do anything physical at all. Instead of catching up on sleep or giving us admin time, our commanders tasked us cleaning with cleaning our rifles for almost the entire day. We joked that our rifles were cleaner than us. That same morning, we learnt of the passing of MM Lee. 5 days outfield meant that we were cut off from the outside world, no news or internet whatsoever. However on day 3 of our field camp, we heard whispers between our Sergeants and Officers about our late minister mentors' declining condition. And as we came back to Ladang, it was no surprise when we saw the latest news reporting MM Lee's condition. His passing meant a few things, firstly, that a state funeral by the military was going to be held, and a rumored "Project White Star" was going to be in effect. It was rumored that all high ranking personnel in the army are to be mobilized for the funeral which means that training could be disrupted. For many of us, it got our hopes high for an early book out. No higher ups would mean that training could be cancelled right?

Wrong.

Training was disrupted, yes, to some extent. All live firing activities were cancelled, including our Battle Inoculation Course as well as our Hand Grenade throwing. But that did not mean that we were scheduled to book out. Instead, we had to stay in camp doing things that didn't involve live firing, like practicing for our Graduation Parade and taking our final IPPT. Things moved really really slowly and we were kept busy with minor and sometimes unnecessary activities, so that we weren't left alone doing nothing; Something we really wanted to do.

Urban Operations

Towards the end of the week, we had a taste of combat in a more realistic setting; in an urban environment. All that we had learnt so far, was combat in a jungle or forest setting. But this felt far from relevant. We were protecting Singapore, a concrete jungle. A place where there were no trees to take cover behind and no enemies camouflaged in green. Urban Ops finally felt like something realistic that we could eventually apply in a real scenario. We were brought to a cluster of buildings where we were taught how to clear rooms and maneuver through and around them. It was an interesting experience. We felt like a special ops team infiltrating buildings and shooting at enemies, like those in movies! Naturally, watching other people screw up and get scolding also provided entertainment for all of us. We fired blanks during the exercise, so it was not disrupted by the state funeral.

As we approached the end of the week, we were waiting in anticipation. Letting one day after another pass through, it was not long before we were on the ferry back to freedom. Temporarily.


Next Post: Out with a BANG! (The last week of BMT pt 1)