One of a Kind (2nd Edition)

BASIC TRAINING

128

EIGHT

camp notice board. Unfortunately, nobody saw the significance of keeping the documents

that would have given a blow-by-blow account of the development of SAFTI, though there

were many that would have done the trick, such as the RO of the individual companies and

SAFTI HQ the PAR (Promotions, Appointments and Relinquishments) list and the training

programmes. One can only wonder at this oversight considering the historic significance of

the role of SAFTI in the birth of the SAF. But, some documents are available at Ministry

of Defence’s (MINDEF) Centre for Heritage Services (CHS) that help to jog the memory

of events during those hectic days in SAFTI, together with photographs and odd copies of

programmes covering specially staged events such as the SAFTI Opening Ceremony and the

Commissioning Parade of the first intake of SAFTI.

The first phase of training for the first intake of SAFTI comprised of two sub-phases, namely,

basic soldiering skills (basic training) followed by training to lead a rifle section (section

training). The same configuration of trainees in ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies and the platoons and

sections (by barrack room grouping) was retained for both. Basic training lasted 74 days and

section training followed immediately for 97 days. For each sub-phase, there was a passing-out

parade, though everyone went on from basic to section training. At the end of the second

sub-phase, 254 trainees finished the course. They were the residue of the original number

who had been posted to SAFTI during June, taking into account all the dropouts in the first

few weeks. 218 of the 254 qualified for the officers’ course and 140 were chosen for the first

course starting 27

November. The remaining 78 were deferred to the second course. 22 of

the 254 who went through the whole section training phase were deemed to have failed and

were given the option to leave though some asked for and were offered civilian jobs in MID

and other ministries. Of the 14 who qualified only as Corporals, 11 chose to leave, while three

were assigned to a demonstration platoon in SAFTI. The 140 who were to make up the first

intake of officer cadets went for a one-week break and those who were commissioned from

that group on 16

July, 1967, became known as the First Batch.

II. BASIC TRAINING OBJECTIVES

Basic training is typically the prosaic part of soldiering, though a novelty to those who did

not have any exposure to the military through the Volunteer Corps or school cadet corps. It

is roughly equivalent to what is called Boot Camp in the United States. For the first intake at

SAFTI, it was generally enlivened by either the hilarious or aggravating military approach to

things. In some instances, there was anxiety over handling hazardous material (hand grenades),

risking personal injury (barbed wire obstacles, live-firing) or lack of aptitude (marksmanship,

obstacle course). The overall training objective was to produce a disciplined initiate into a

combat team, who would respond predictably to an order and stand a good chance of survival

even on his own in a battlefield. This applied to all the circumstances in which a soldier would

find himself on duty, a term that was stretched to mean every minute that he was within the

confines of a camp as well as when performing his operational role. The only time he was not