Tag: National Service

  • From the White Horse’s mouth

    I was enlisted in December 1988, just as the Army was changing their combat helmets from heavy steel to high tech Dupont Kevlar, and apart from my dog tags that said I was allergic to penicillin and triple antigen vaccines, my medical docket had this mysterious ink stamp that simply said, “W.H.” Read more at…

  • Water displacement formula, 40th attempt

    Back when I was in full time NS, the cleaning of weapons was a mundane, time-consuming, daily chore. Between the 7 troopers in a combat section, we’d have around seven small arms (M16S1), couple of grenade launchers (M203), couple of light automatics (Ultimax100), two GPMGs, and a heavy machine gun (Browning .5 HMG). Carbon residue…

  • When once the flag flew me

    Once, during NS, me and two other guys were made the battalion’s flag raising party for one of many early morning parades. This task entailed picking up the flags from the Regimental Sergeant Major’s office, checking the cords to make sure nothing was frayed, and rehearsing our marching to the flag poles at the top…

  • Completely useless Christmas gifts: the camouflage-patterned wallet

    Buy this for a friend doing his national service stint / reservist in-camp. Worried that he might lose it while on field training because his wallet looks just like foliage? Buy another one for him. Technorati Tags: christmas, useless gifts

  • On sale

    “..that there’s nothing that a little black tape cannot fix… …and that when there’s really something that black tape cannot fix, you need to mark it with white tape”.. I am very chuffed about my first book being on sale from today “at major bookstores”. I don’t know how other authors do it, or what…