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OFFICER CADET TRAINING
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ELEVEN
I. BASIC METTLE
Most officer cadet training is collective—the grouping of officer cadets as
a platoon of trainees provides the command framework for role-play, inter-
personnel relations and technical lessons, while it is as a leader of a platoon that
a newly commissioned Second Lieutenant will in most cases, serve his initial
assignment in the organisation. But, leadership training in the military, which
is what officer cadet training ultimately boils down to, inevitably must reckon
with the ability of each trainee to successfully perform tasks which draw deeply
of his inner resources of self-reliance, courage, stamina and perseverance, as
well as the application of knowledge, specific to the task at hand. This must be
tested as objectively as possible before the trainers can be convinced that the
cadet is worthy of a commission which carries legal recognition of considerable
authority over other nationals.
Exercise Red Beret was to be that test, though not articulated in such definitive
terms. The red beret is pretty much the universal trademark of airborne troops
and the title was probably inspired by the red berets worn by the British
Parachute Regiment. This may have been a factor in the choice of colour for the
berets of the SAF Commando Unit when it was formed. The requirements for
the exercise were made as tough as possible, given the limitations of Singapore
and the permissible degree of hazards trainees could reasonably be subjected
to—which, it must be said, enjoyed a wide latitude at the time. Designed to be
an individual test of infiltration and evasion, cadets were required to make their
way within 16 hours from Tampines or Upper Changi Road, east of Jalan Tiga
Ratus to Cow Dung Hill (Spot Height 65). Although they were dropped off in
pairs at the start point, the stipulation was that they were individually responsible
for arriving at the end point. At Cow Dung Hill, they were to join up with the
rest of their platoon, when they eventually turned up and carry out an assault
on Chua Chu Kang Hill (Spot Height 286) under the command of one of their
fellows who would be appointed by instructors waiting for them. The
pièce de
résistance
was that the cadets would have to make a tactical withdrawal on foot
to SAFTI after the assault. Each pair of trainees would be dropped off in the
pre-dawn hours at different points along tracks off Tampines Road and Upper
Changi Road, which were then narrow winding rural roads serving a sparse
habitations of farmlands, plantations, sand quarries and detached rural homes.
Each would have a prismatic compass and topographic map, twenty-four hours
rations and be in full battle order with combat boots and steel helmets and a
grid reference for an intermediate objective where he would be given his next
checkpoint. The cadets would not know where they were being dropped off—
that was for each to establish, and he would have to wait till early daylight to
pick up some reference points, if required.
EXERCISE RED BERET