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BARRACK LIFE DURING SECTION TRAINING
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TEN
weekends, usually for a stipulated period like three extra hours and even threaten to cancel
the whole weekend. The latter was never done in fact because it had to be pre-planned with
additional indents of rations and having extra cooks stay back as well, not to mention the
Platoon Sergeant himself. But, in at least one case in ‘B’ Company, the Platoon Sergeant, an
outstanding NCO who went on to become an RSM as WO1, was so incensed about something
that he seemed determined to carry out his threat. As it happened, however, during a lull
in field training towards the end of the week, the Platoon Commander and Platoon 2I/C
decided to have a friendly chat with the platoon. The atmospherics seemed right for an appeal
and though an immediate response was not offered, the Platoon Commander apparently had
a word with his Sergeant and the platoon was let off. Interestingly, the Platoon Sergeant
seemed to have resented the appeal behind his back and raised the subject at a subsequent
occasion, leaving the platoon considerably nervous for a time, anticipating a settling of scores.
II. INTERIOR ECONOMY
Less drastic punishment was in the form more of a forfeit than punishment as such. Keeping
pet birds seemed to be the vogue with NCOs at one time during the early days of the course,
and there were some trainees, like Chen Yew Ping, who were also into the hobby. A favourite
forfeit was to order a trainee to catch a required number of grasshoppers to feed an NCO’s
bird or birds before leaving camp for the weekend.
Part of “interior economy” included exterior grass cutting.