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BASIC TRAINING
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EIGHT
subject to his superiors’ direct orders, or indirect orders (ROs, Standing Operating
Procedure (SOP), Camp Standing Orders, etc.) was when officially on leave outside a military
establishment and not in uniform.
But, there are minimum professional skills and competencies to acquire to qualify as a
soldier. Basic training, in broad subjects, covered the use of personal weapons, fieldcraft,
drill movements and physical fitness (including dexterity, and mobility on foot), unarmed
combat, basic first aid skills and regimental duties like those of a sentry, fire picket and
armskote man. In the case of the first intake, however, the objective was not to turn out a
rifleman for a combat unit, but to equip the trainee for higher appointments. So, some of
the basics—such as sentry duty in a unit – were not required except by way of knowing
how to mount a camp quarter guard as an NCO, which was done during the section training
phase. These were accordingly deferred. The combat skills that a typical private soldier had
to master as a precursor to being trained as a Section Leader leading a rifle section of eight
men, was packed into the first 74 days. Cramming this into 74 days was possible because ‘A’
and ‘B’ companies were training companies with dedicated trainers and training means and
none of the usual regimental duties of a field unit. SAFTI’s HQ Company took care of those
details. Additionally, perhaps the higher calibre and the motivation of the trainees expedited
the learning process.
III. DRESSING TO KILL
Understandably, there was a lot of emphasis on learning to use the rifle, which was ceremoniously
presented to each trainee on the second night in Pasir Laba. At 4.45 kg, i.e., 9.81 pounds
and 109 cm (3.58 ft) in length, the Belgian-designed Fabrique Nationale weapon, commonly
referred to as SLR, had been adopted in 1953 as the UK rifleman’s personal weapon. It was
configured to fire single rounds of 7.62mm (long) ammunition but later models could be
modified to 3-round bursts, though it was rather cumbersome in this mode. There was a
heavy-barrel version that fired in automatic as a section support weapon on a bi-pod, the
heavy barrel allowing for limited sustained fire. The magazines were bulky and each could hold
only 20 rounds. A soldier carried 6 spare magazines in addition to the one on the rifle and the
magazines were stuffed into the two waist pouches slung one over each hip on the belt, to
which the webbing was hooked. The 7.62mm NATO round was powerful and the rifle recoiled
violently, which could make a firer gun-shy, i.e. anticipate the kick and lose concentration on
his holding, aiming and firing discipline. But, the SLR was hardy and un-temperamental, while
its length, weight and solid wooden butt with brass butt-plate made it an excellent weapon for
hand-to-hand combat and bayonet fighting. However, by 1966, it had become dated with the
widespread availability of the Kalashnikov AK-47 fully automatic rifle in the Communist Bloc.
Within the first two days, depending on the Platoon Sergeants and Section Instructors, each
trainee was briefed and familiarised on wearing his uniform in its various configurations such