Chapter 36--SAF Day

Yesterday is SAF day and since I had just completed reservist training and have witness some really dramatic changes in SAF during my previous 2 ICT, therefore feel that it is time also for me to review some of the transformation of SAF over these recent years.
The most obvious and celebrated change in policy must be the reduction of full time national service to 2 years for all national servicemen regardless of educational level instead of 2 and a half years for those having A level or Diploma certificates. I can still remember that when this policy was announced, there was an outcry of hurray in my camp and we were joking that we had won 3rd prize in lottery since all NSF in service at that time had a 2 months reduction with immediate effect while the subsequent batches will have 4 months or 6 months reduction based on their enlistment date. However, it is not to say that all of us were happy with this change as some of my seniors who had less than 2 months to their ORD suddenly found themselves basically being converted back into civilian without any prior notice or heart preparation. They must have felt more shock than happiness since all their accumulated leaves and offs will now have to be forfeited. I believe that it is also the first time that SAF compensated NSFs with monetary values as in the past, only regulars can exchange their used leaves for monetary values(although it is now not allowed also).

The next obvious transformation in SAF must be its hardware. M16 rifles were now replaced with SAR21 while SBO were superseded by LBV. Even duffle bag and field pack had a make over with the field pack certainly becoming more spacious now and recruits no longer have to squeeze all their field pack items into the previous miserably small field pack. Combat rations have also certainly improve in quality since there is actually a can of coffee or milo in each assessory pack now! Wah now...recruits are surely having better life now. On the armour side, SM1 tanks were slowly phrasing out as the newer Leopard tank makes it debut. Even m113 were also slowly making way for the more powerful Bionix. This was testify by people from my previous 46 SAR unit who traditional handle only SM1 and M113 but now have to go for BX and Bronco conversion course soon.

Training in SAF has also certainly changed a lot in the past few years. With the shortening of the duration of full time national service, most of the courses in SAF were also either shorten or becomes more compact. Criteria for entry into leadership course also appear to have relaxed a bit. Read in forum that even recruits who had failed their IPPT can now get into SISPEC(school of infantry specialists). This was almost unheard of in my era. The training programme in SISPEC have also been modified and the POP route march is now 28km instead of 32km with some of the more xiong exercises such as firecrackers and nut shells being moved to ASLC(Advance section leader course) instead of having it in BSLC. On the technical vocation side, the highest rank for privates passing out of OETI(Ordnance engineering training institute) is now CFC(Corporal first class; a new rank introduced btw) and no longer 3SG. Only those that are selected for specialist course will obtain 3SG after attending the relevant course in Tekong.

When I enlisted in Tekong on the 13th December 2002, Bayonet fighting was still part of the curriculum and we were issued grey army t-shirt. Now, barely 6 years later, Bayonet fighting has becomes an ancient art of skills and recruits nowadays donned brown army t-shirt. Such was the speed of SAF transformation. It is now even say that we may have a complete change of uniform into the digital camo type soon after the previous major change in uniform involving the sewing of country and formation badge onto uniform occurred less than 2 years ago. It does seems that SAF is very efficient in this area.

I wonder how many more changes will occur in the next 6 years…( by which I would have almost completed my reservist then) Will 3G army evolve to 4G or even 5G by then?

Oh…and btw Happy SAF day to those waiting to be enter army, are now in service, those awaiting to be called up for service and those who is longer needed in service.

Regards,
Yongster

Still many more good years ahead...