NS memories

In exactly 8 days, i'll have officially completed my National Service. Kinda having mixed feelings about it cos part of me is happy to be free but the other part of me is missing the friends, places, memories and times of it... here's a little recap of my life in the Navy

~ 9th JUne 2006 - was enlisted as a fresh recruit along with another 122 guys. Felt really nervous and i honestly did not know what to expect. The sergeants and the officers put on fake smiles as we were led into the hall with our loved ones. My dad and my ex were there with me on that day. I remember that she and i were joking that we might bump into an old friend of ours named Jun Hao and amazingly, we saw him there. I mean the chance of it was like 1 in a thousand lah! It was a nice surprise though and it was even better cos he ended up being my bunk mate. Anw, once our parents left, the doors of the hall was closed and then... our ears were given a workout by the 'FRIENDLY' sergeants. Running here and there with our bags and being screamed at! it was quite bad! what's worse was that my System of a Down Cd broke during the run with our bags. i was so totally pissed! That night, we were made to carry our shoe lockers down in 3 minutes and other ridiculous and sadistic punishments..


As BMT went along, things became better, i became fitter, had the best six pack in my company (can't say that now after too much good food once i passed out ) etc. Time spent writing letters to my ex and all that. The highlight of my BMT was firing the AR 15 rifle! It was so freakin cool and i wish i could do it again. BANG! BANG! hahaha :D


In BMT, everyones true colours came out. It was quite easy to tell who were strong at heart and who wasn't. After 8 weeks of torture, we all passed out and moved on to our next phase of training...

My buddies Jun HAo, Addison, Ebenezeer, Chee Wee, Km etc. Miss ya guys like hell


~Post BMT


After BMT, we were sent for our JUnior Rating Course. It wasn't much fun or anything so i'll skip this part. After i was done with that, i was sent to train as a Gunner. I was pretty afraid at first cos the instructors and officers there were the Hardest and meanest bastards in the navy but to everyones surprise (myself included) i did really well and ended the course as the BEst Trainee. Initially, everyone didn't think that i would do well but i proved them all wrong. (BWAHAHAHA!! SWEET VICTORY!!!)



~ Ship Life


I was one of the 3 to be posted to the MIssile Gun Boat which is one of the NAvy's oldest type of battleship (can't really call it a ship cos it's small but whatever). The Mighty SEA TIGER. Along with 5 other MGBs, it was full of history. i felt really proud to raise the national flag onboard every morning. so what happened during my time onboard? Same old story here.. People thought i couldn't make it and all but i proved them wrong. Ship life was a really unique and sailing is an experience that i'll always remember. Dropping anchor and eating garlic bread, getting drenched in the heavy downpour while sailing back. Sitting in the ammo bay surrounded by tons of explosives(really freakin scary). one slip and BOOOOOM!!!


~Downward spiral


AS you may or may not know, i have been dealing with fatigue syndrome for two years and while i was onboard, it affected me severely. Sleepless nights, knee pains and non stop work made it really unbearable. i went to see the medical officer with regards to my fatigue and they posted me back to my training camp. I felt really sad to leave for i had made many friends and i felt a sense of attachment to my ship. so it was back to the place where it all started and i was sent for another course.. etc etc.. met awesome friends such as Keet Mun and Kelvin

Got a new posting as an Armourer/ MAterials Assistant ( what is it with me and getting posted to stuff that requires me to handle guns? hmmmm.. sounds wrong eh)

Met a whole new bunch of friends.. Marcus, Ivan, Bryan, Aaron and Dess.

To be honest, i feel like a celeb in camp! Everywhere i turn, someone waves and says Hi! i"ve friends everywhere lah! Gosh! hahah

I'm always the one cracking jokes and doing nonsense all the time. i lost count of the number of times i've made my friends burst out in utter hysteria

HEck! even the officers like me! Won't ever forget Warrant harbajhan who would chase me and pester me to shave my sideburns! Bleargh!!! to you man! hahaha




~There is really TOO MUCH stuff to write down and believe me when i say that this is only a quarter of it..

~ Here's to the lessons learnt, the gains and the losses and the wonderful memories of NS.

After all, how often can you tell someone that you were a sailor aye?





Jason 'the SAILsation' Thomas