Communicado

Ex Wallaby 2005: Mobile signal

Miracle: International roaming out in the bush makes for a happy armoured trooper. 3SG (NS) Gerard Tan (right) points troopers to the GSM signal.

It’s been a different three weeks, a difficult three weeks. No internet, only intermittent mobile signals and long queues to the landline phones that allowed us to call home using discount phone cards. And that was just in base camp. Once we moved out, there was not much you could do to keep in touch with your loved ones, or to check soccer results.

When we were out in the field for the 10 days (out of 18) we were at Shoalwater Bay, Central Queensland, the optimistic among us took out our mobile phones to check for any semblance of a GSM signal.

Not much luck until one day, somewhere in the western sector of the middle of nowhere, 3SG Gerard Tan, Bravo Company 84mm Carl Gustav Recoilless Rifle Specialist, took out his mobile, turned it on, and yelled, ‘Signal!’

This prompted a mad scramble, and I’ve never seen soldiers move so quickly, whipping out their phones and turning them on faster than they can reload their rifles.

‘Don’t have leh, where got?’

‘Gort! Select manual network, choose Vodafone, it’s the strongest, and you must face that direction and stand under that tree’.



EX Wallaby 05

Originally uploaded by askgerard.com.


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13 responses to “Communicado”

  1. knntankuku Avatar
    knntankuku

    Sgt Foreskin has been outed….look at miyagi’s photo sets in flickr

  2. knntankuku Avatar
    knntankuku

    Sgt Foreskin has been outed….look at miyagi’s photo sets in flickr

  3. Michael Chua Avatar

    Difficult 3 weeks indeed. For any Singaporean who’s hooked to his handphone and internet connection ;p

  4. Michael Chua Avatar

    Difficult 3 weeks indeed. For any Singaporean who’s hooked to his handphone and internet connection ;p

  5. Shortphat K Avatar

    Arhhh…and they say our soldiers have no sense of urgency and belonging to our home and families. I beg to differ. HA!

  6. Shortphat K Avatar

    Arhhh…and they say our soldiers have no sense of urgency and belonging to our home and families. I beg to differ. HA!

  7. Pooh Avatar
    Pooh

    Welcome Home!!

    You posting is so funny….. “gort”…. lol

  8. Pooh Avatar
    Pooh

    Welcome Home!!

    You posting is so funny….. “gort”…. lol

  9. bioanarchism Avatar

    welcome back. and i am actually surprised at the unpretentious importance of staying in touch with the rest of the world – even if it means searching for “signals” the way a hunter would do for a prey.

    nonetheless, it was pretty cool having brown to guestblog fer you. i just hope that i do not get send to places like that.

  10. bioanarchism Avatar

    welcome back. and i am actually surprised at the unpretentious importance of staying in touch with the rest of the world – even if it means searching for “signals” the way a hunter would do for a prey.

    nonetheless, it was pretty cool having brown to guestblog fer you. i just hope that i do not get send to places like that.

  11. anon1 Avatar
    anon1

    my colleaque also came back
    with megasize pack of delicious
    nougats

    chewy crunchy tasty

    thanks
    hehehehe

  12. anon1 Avatar
    anon1

    my colleaque also came back
    with megasize pack of delicious
    nougats

    chewy crunchy tasty

    thanks
    hehehehe

  13. […] 3SG Gerard has a better picture of soldiers looking for mobile signal. (Cos his phone’s got a better cam). // Used for showing and hiding user information in the comment form function ShowUtils() { document.getElementById(“authorinfo”).style.display = “”; document.getElementById(“showinfo”).style.display = “none”; document.getElementById(“hideinfo”).style.display = “”; } function HideUtils() { document.getElementById(“authorinfo”).style.display = “none”; document.getElementById(“showinfo”).style.display = “”; document.getElementById(“hideinfo”).style.display = “none”; } […]

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