One of a Kind (2nd Edition)

PULLING TOGETHER

252

TWELVE

III. A COMMON WAVELENGTH

Two other factors appear to have played a strong hand in the interpersonal relations that

pervaded the life of the first intake during their training.

The first was that the trainees were all voluntary enlistees and motivated to complete the

course successfully. They were training for a paying career. All recognised that they were

in a military organisation and understood its dynamics: that enlistment subjected them to

military law which included summary trial and punishment; that superiors were authorised

to issue orders and subordinates were legally bound to comply; and that military activities

were hazardous and as such, physical danger did not justify insubordination or dereliction

of duty. As trainees, compared to full-fledged initiates, they would have to demonstrate

good discipline or be expelled, in addition to whatever other punishment was meted out

for misconduct. Consequently, the driving forces behind behaviour as trainees were self-

discipline and self-control in routine activities and camp life.

The second was that throughout the course, there was no evidence that a commission would

be denied to any of those who enlisted on 1

June, 1966, provided he did not ‘fail’ any

required attainment. There was no suggestion of a final examination: each phase of the

training, including sub-phases such as technical handling, was an intermediate step which

had to be completed en bloc among all the trainees before the next phase was initiated.

Even at the end of section training, when 114 of those who had gone through this phase

were not channelled into the officer cadet phase, it was assumed to be because of logistical

and staffing constraints, though of course the 140 selected for ‘A’ Company were more than

happy to have made the first cut. The disposition of those not selected was not made known

generally to their colleagues, though their close associates must have been aware, so it was

assumed that they were among those deferred to a later course. It was also assumed that

apart from those who had quit within the first three to six weeks of recruit training, all had

passed out as section leaders at the formal passing-out ceremony on 18

November, 1966.

Thus, the idea that short of serious misconduct, abject incompetence, medical incapacity,

or a personal decision to drop out, those who advanced to the officer cadet phase expected

to be commissioned en bloc as well. This frame of mind translated into a very high degree

of cooperation and mutual support among the cadets in nearly every aspect of cadet life

since there did not appear to be a competitive agenda. This, in turn, reduced the scope of

intervention in day-to-day matters on disciplinary grounds by the instructors, who practically

had to invent offences by the trainees, except in exceptional circumstances, to imbue amongst

them a sense of the uncompromising standards expected of them as officers. No doubt, this

was also a way for the instructors to show that they were a body to be reckoned with.