Once a Gunner...

Three days into the 13-week course, and things aren't looking that good. Had our first nights' out. But we were so rushed to book out and Khatib Camp's so far away, that the only reason why I wasted cab fare to get home was to get my set of civilian clothes for Friday's book out. And to re-stock on snacks of course. I'm telling you I almost died of starvation because I forgot to pack the latter in on the first day of course.

Anyway, being in 105th Artillery Spec Course has it's pros and cons. Here's a short list of them:

PROS
1. We no longer need to camoflague our faces, well since gunners are not longer frontline troopers. Haha.

2. No more route marches! Arty gunners are vehicle-bound most of the time you see.

3. No more combat rations! Enough said. =)

4. Friday book outs!

5. Tiny bunks! We may not have enough space, but on the bright side, we'd have less space to clean for area inspection!

CONS
1. We may no longer need camoflague cream, but we'll have to camoflague the howitzer. Woe unto us.

2. No more route marches, but we'll have to carry ammunition three quarters my weight. Wah lao.

3. We may be released on Friday evenings, but since our Khatib Camp only has a few units and Kilo Battery is so small, we're being scheduled for weekend guard duties rather often (i.e. twice a month I think?) Mind you, we're gonna be doing guard on Fridays and Saturdays. No more weekdays. =(

4. I'll still have to clear my SOC, under 10 minutes that is. Uh-oh.

5. Gun drills, gun drills and more gun drills.

6. Strength training, strength training and more strength training.

7. Each piece of equipment we handle is worth MILLIONS. I think. Lose or damage anything and we'd have to sign on for regular service for life, without pay. Hah.

8. SAFETY is of paramount importance, given the high number of training and non training incidents in the Artillery Formation. That means greater rigidity and regimentation - something that I find very difficult to get used back to, especially after going through SISPEC. Yes, where they treat us like future commanders, not men. Ah well.

Okay I think I've said enough. Gotta flag down another cab, pcik up Felix and head back to camp. Till then.