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OFFICER CADET TRAINING
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ELEVEN
II. BODY SEARCH
III. OUTSMARTING THE OPPOSITION
In the actual execution of the exercise, the final checkpoint before Cow Dung
Hill was the foot of Bukit Timah Hill, Singapore’s highest natural elevation
at 163 metres. Cadets arriving there earlier had the opportunity to rest while
waiting for nightfall. Some recollected that it was mandatory to cover the final
leg at night and those who arrived at Bukit Timah were released in the order of
their arrival time. The distance to Cow Dung Hill by foot was about 12 km and
would take about four hours tactically. There was also some recollection also
that at Bukit Timah, different platoons, which did the exercise on different days,
were given different RV points in the vicinity of Cow Dung Hill to rendezvous
at, because Spot Height 65 itself had become so familiar to the cadets by this
stage of the training that it was not a challenge to identify under any condition.
On the eve of the exercise, full packs were inspected to ensure that the SOP
items were packed, while just before departure to the start points, each trainee
was subjected to a body search to ensure that he was not carrying any money
which could be used for ‘meter-reading’ i.e. use of taxis and other unauthorised
transportation during map-reading exercises. To ensure that cadets moved
cross-country and did not use prohibited areas, the Police Reserve Unit, since
it also came under MID, was deployed in stages across the line of advance of
the cadets to catch them and send them back to the last checkpoint. Exercise
Controllers were also deployed for the same purpose and could award forfeits
ranging from deliberately dirtying their rifles to depriving them of their boots,
so that they would have to resort to using their PT shoes for the rest of the
exercise, or so it was threatened.
Platoon 1 was the first to do the exercise. The limitations of doing the exercise
in Singapore quickly became obvious. Among other things, shortly after being
dropped off, cadets began to run into other colleagues and could form groups
more or less heading towards intermediate check points in the same vicinity,
while also being able to compare notes, which reduced reliance on individual
map-reading skills, personal fortitude and the threat of detection by Controllers.
By the time the second and third platoons did the exercise, ways to stash away
some cash which would escape detection by Controllers were successfully
devised, though best left unrecorded, and those who did so were able to illegally
cover at least part of the way by hiring farmers’ vehicles and even taxis. Cadets
were also able to pre-arrange transportation with civilian friends. Regretfully,
one cadet or another exploited every loophole while many eventually went
along with the most dominant colleague they ran into along the way.