Grandslam!

Finally! This ultimate test is over! :) :D Firstly I want to thank God that, IT DIDN'T RAIN!! :D Whoo hoo! God is good! :D

Honestly, grandslam was really, really slack man. I expected much worse. And my 2 most feared events - Shellscrape and Navigation - wasn't all too bad. Anyway, here are a few reasons why it was so slack:

1) Digging of shellscrape. We were all SUPPOSED to dig our shellscrapes in SBO = LBV + Helmet + Rifle all stuck to your body while you hack recklessly at the ground beneath you.

However, there were no commanders around to enforce that :D So all of us simply dug our shellscrapes in Long Four. HAHAHA! Whenever our enciks would come near our harbour area, the front man would shout HORNET!! And we'd all don our SBO. LOLS!!

In BMT, we dug with SBO all the way cos we have like 5 sergeants (1 platoon sgt + 4 sec comd) and 2 2nd lieutenants (2 Platoon Commanders) in my platoon that are walking around, babysitting us. Without the extra load on your body, digging is WAY EASIER!

In an hour, my shellscrape depth was achieved! :D Whoo hoo! The power of clean fatigue man!

2) Exercise Wanderer (navigation). We got badly lost in Lower Mandai in our Exercise Gypsy, so I scared we once again will get lost in the Tekong Jungle.

But guess what? Navigation in Tekong is SO MUCH EASIER! There were so many tracks, training sheds and casualty collection points with MGR given to confirm ground with. So yeah man! :D

However, the night navigation wasn't all too good. We couldn't find one checkpoint. 5 details combined and combed the area and still couldn't find it. You know why? The description given to us was "200m south of training shed" when the actual checkpoint found by only ONE detail was actually "350m++ south-WEST of training shed"

So we wasted 3 hours trying to find checkpoint LION. In the end, we were given another checkpoint and after finding it and reaching our rest area, it was already 2.30am! Haha. O well, at least we met our objective :)

3) No rifle stunting. In SISPEC, we're training to be commanders, so they don't babysit us and find trouble with us over such stuffs :D But we'll still get scolding if we throw it too far from us. Haha.

4) Groundsheet in shellscrape. We slept in our shellscrapes...but not without our groundsheets covering it! :D :D :D

Anyway, here's the HIGHLIGHT of this field camp that I will NEVER FORGET! :D

WILD BOAR!!! Next to my shellscrape was my friend's Tan Sean's shellscrape with his field pack there. He told me he'd be sleeping with 3 other friends at another side. So off he went. It was nightfall - totally dark.

A few minutes later, I heard someone rummaging through his field pack with all the plastic bag sounds and zips opening. So I thought he came back to take his stuff. But when I shone my torchlight over, I SAW A BIG, FAT WILD BOAR!! I immediately shouted "WILD BOAR!!" and everyone nearby joined in the commotion as we watched the wild boar take field rations from my friend's fieldpack. HAHAHA!

It was like some science excursion where everyone gathered round to see how the animal kingdom operates. HAHA!

Thankfully, the wild boar wasn't agitated by 20++ torchlights shining on it. He simply took the rations to a clearing nearby and started eating. If the wild boar had been agitated, I wonder if I'd still be able to type this post man. HAHAHA!

Yup, Thank God that he kept all of us safe through this field camp :D