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A NEW BEGINNING
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FIFTEEN
II. THE FIRST BATTALION ATTACK OF THE SAF
refreshments, though by July 1967, as far as regular fare was concerned, army cooking still
demanded the sauce of ravenous appetites that field training induced.
The battalion live-firing demonstration on 11
th
July, the Tuesday before the Commissioning
Parade weekend, had more far-reaching implications. By now, the cadets had completed the
training objectives of the syllabus. The final days were spent mostly in the could-know areas
of training, including national education visits to commercial complexes like the Jurong
Shipyard and the Mobil Refinery, or learning how to carry themselves as officers at cocktail
parties and how to use cutlery at a western dinner. It was thus an opportune time, with a
company-worth of highly trained cadets, to delve into the next phase of the development
of the SAF as a whole. Of immediate interest, was the progression from company-level
operations to battalion-level operations. Singapore’s political leadership needed to know what
such operations entailed so as to initiate the equipping, manning and doctrinal development
of the basic self-sustaining echelon in the Infantry. Then, there was the urgent consideration
of acquiring weapons and other hardware, including weapons to support battalion-level
operations, which would be integrated into the battalion’s table of establishment. And,
these were just baby steps in 1967. With the commissioning of the First Batch in July, the
leadership core of the arms and services was poised to go into specialist training within
weeks. There was a need to define that training and the parameters of the arms and services
to which these trainees would be assigned.
81mm mortar preparatory fire on first objective for battalion attack demonstration.