'Gentlemen, we are at war.'
Maybe it was just me, but I could literally feel the tension in the air as we marched to the briefing room to receive the warning orders. There was just something different on that occasion, simply because we knew that was it. That was the finale; everything that we have trained for boiled down to that. Perhaps it was the curt way we marched, or the crisper than usual commands, or the brisker than usual walk, or even the gloomy weather. There was this aura about us, this silent eagerness to quickly get the job over and done with. Well, it is all over.
On the whole, I think we did ok. Surprisingly, it wasn't quite as bad as we imagined it to be. Relative to our training back home, it was actually pretty decent, thanks mostly to the weather which was fabulous over there at this time of the year (the hot and humid weather of Singapore really drains you like nothing else does). Sleep deprivation was similar to back at home, but by now we were all used to getting 2 hours of sleep per day, so that wasn't really much of an issue (for me at least). I was expecting worst actually, like 0 hours of sleep for a couple of days. Thank goodness we didn't had to do that. And so, we are now all back at home, and I guess I should be thankful that we all made it back safely. Not all who went there came back alive. The new training shed behind our barracks was a testament to that.
Live firing was an awesome display of firepower, and a grim if otherwise silent reminder of the heavy responsibility that lie upon our shoulders as commanders of armoured forces. I couldn't help but reflect upon this as I looked around myself while doing marshalling duties for the vehicles enroute to the range. It was the first glimpse I had of the civillian world since going over there, and in a way, it was refreshing after spending all the time there in a military base with its dull grey buildings. The spot I was doing duty at was somewhat picturesque. It was situated on the slope going up to a plateau, with beatuiful houses lining the side of the street. Below me lay the rest of the city spreading away in the slight mist of the morning from the plateau. It was a cool morning, and there I was at the intersection, in almost full combat gear minus the weapon, (we later stripped down to just plain green fatigues because we would look so alien to be there in combat gear. Goodness knows who made the silly call to go out there with everything) overwatching the intersection and trying to make sure that no accident occurred. Young children were playing outside the houses, and mothers were bringing their kids out to the nearby parks or to schools. The playful voices of the children filled the air as they went about in their own trouble free world, oblivious to our ominous presence. Ominous, because while it is our duty to preserve and protect, ultimately, we are still agents of death and destruction. And we were there to perfect the art of bringing destruction. I could hardly imagine a starker contrast. Yet, without us, that is exactly what would happen. The irony of it all indeed, that it is only by the threat of destruction on both ourselves and others that destruction is held at bay.
Nevertheless, the sight of the children running about carefreely served as a wonderful reminder on the importance of our current jobs. Sure, those weren't our citizens, and in a way, we are not obliged to protect them since we were never sworn to do so. But I cannot imagine us withholding back should any of them be in a life-threatening situation. Freedom is sadly, not free of charge. But it has to be bought, and so bought at a high price. It is easy to forget what one is fighting for in the heat of a battle. To those who have fought in real wars, the agony and torture that remains after must be terrible, for in the heat of battle, all such ideals of preserving and protecting flees from the mind only to be consumed with hatred, vengeance and savagery, more so when one's friends start falling under a hail of bullets. Terrible acts are committed in the heat of the moment, and while the ultimate intention may be to preserve and protect, it certainly wasn't at that moment. The line between the both is so thin that it is so easy to simply slip into a mind which hungers for blood. And in so fighting our enemy, we have became the very enemy which we swore to defend against. Perhaps that is one of the hardest thing to accomplish in warfare, especially in this new war of terror. To not become who we are defending against, that of the mindless, blood hungry creatures. For it we become like them, then we would have lost the war wholly to them.
Well, before I end off, I would once again like to give my thanks and respect to those who have traded their peace of mind by serving in the various theatres of war in the hope of bringing peace and security to the rest of the world. In many ways, they have paid the ultimate price, for the peace of mind is priceless. Yet, they have so paid it, in the belief that they will make a positive difference. That much deserves our sincere thanks and gratitude.
On the whole, I think we did ok. Surprisingly, it wasn't quite as bad as we imagined it to be. Relative to our training back home, it was actually pretty decent, thanks mostly to the weather which was fabulous over there at this time of the year (the hot and humid weather of Singapore really drains you like nothing else does). Sleep deprivation was similar to back at home, but by now we were all used to getting 2 hours of sleep per day, so that wasn't really much of an issue (for me at least). I was expecting worst actually, like 0 hours of sleep for a couple of days. Thank goodness we didn't had to do that. And so, we are now all back at home, and I guess I should be thankful that we all made it back safely. Not all who went there came back alive. The new training shed behind our barracks was a testament to that.
Live firing was an awesome display of firepower, and a grim if otherwise silent reminder of the heavy responsibility that lie upon our shoulders as commanders of armoured forces. I couldn't help but reflect upon this as I looked around myself while doing marshalling duties for the vehicles enroute to the range. It was the first glimpse I had of the civillian world since going over there, and in a way, it was refreshing after spending all the time there in a military base with its dull grey buildings. The spot I was doing duty at was somewhat picturesque. It was situated on the slope going up to a plateau, with beatuiful houses lining the side of the street. Below me lay the rest of the city spreading away in the slight mist of the morning from the plateau. It was a cool morning, and there I was at the intersection, in almost full combat gear minus the weapon, (we later stripped down to just plain green fatigues because we would look so alien to be there in combat gear. Goodness knows who made the silly call to go out there with everything) overwatching the intersection and trying to make sure that no accident occurred. Young children were playing outside the houses, and mothers were bringing their kids out to the nearby parks or to schools. The playful voices of the children filled the air as they went about in their own trouble free world, oblivious to our ominous presence. Ominous, because while it is our duty to preserve and protect, ultimately, we are still agents of death and destruction. And we were there to perfect the art of bringing destruction. I could hardly imagine a starker contrast. Yet, without us, that is exactly what would happen. The irony of it all indeed, that it is only by the threat of destruction on both ourselves and others that destruction is held at bay.
Nevertheless, the sight of the children running about carefreely served as a wonderful reminder on the importance of our current jobs. Sure, those weren't our citizens, and in a way, we are not obliged to protect them since we were never sworn to do so. But I cannot imagine us withholding back should any of them be in a life-threatening situation. Freedom is sadly, not free of charge. But it has to be bought, and so bought at a high price. It is easy to forget what one is fighting for in the heat of a battle. To those who have fought in real wars, the agony and torture that remains after must be terrible, for in the heat of battle, all such ideals of preserving and protecting flees from the mind only to be consumed with hatred, vengeance and savagery, more so when one's friends start falling under a hail of bullets. Terrible acts are committed in the heat of the moment, and while the ultimate intention may be to preserve and protect, it certainly wasn't at that moment. The line between the both is so thin that it is so easy to simply slip into a mind which hungers for blood. And in so fighting our enemy, we have became the very enemy which we swore to defend against. Perhaps that is one of the hardest thing to accomplish in warfare, especially in this new war of terror. To not become who we are defending against, that of the mindless, blood hungry creatures. For it we become like them, then we would have lost the war wholly to them.
Well, before I end off, I would once again like to give my thanks and respect to those who have traded their peace of mind by serving in the various theatres of war in the hope of bringing peace and security to the rest of the world. In many ways, they have paid the ultimate price, for the peace of mind is priceless. Yet, they have so paid it, in the belief that they will make a positive difference. That much deserves our sincere thanks and gratitude.
Here are some pics which we took over there. Due to security reasons however, a large number of them would be inapproriate to publish.
A breathtaking view of our training area with a city extending out below us into the plains.
The land falling away to a coastal plain with the sea on its left.
Sunset
Sunset with vehicles in the background
Oh, just an interesting sidenote, I'm now going off to try out a new spaghetti recipe that I retrieved while picking up rubbish (we were doing area cleaning) at the vehicle park over at the base there. Lol.
posted by Jun Yi at 3:48 PM
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People should read this.
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