OCS and OCT

Heylo, i'm back!
Something i read fueled me with the burning desire to write, to express my opinions/ thoughts.
It was so overwhelming that i didn't mind spending my precious book-out time blogging.
This burning hunger to pen my views on this subject brought me right here, my blog.
The place where i started.
The place where i learned to express my views(usually critical ones) in words.
But then ns came and the whole army life thing drove me right back to stone age where i lost the skill to write.
Fortunately, there was police which brought me back to school, AND MADE ME SIT THRU AN ESSAY EXAM 2 DAYS AGO.
Now, I'm civilised again. Yay!
I bring my pen for lessons, a rifle no more.

Ok, now lets get to the topic.
OCS, officer cadet school for SAF personnel.
OCT, in this case i refer to police officer cadet of the SPF.
I'm currently an OCT of the police force.
WOW!
Hey, thanks buts its not a secret.
Ohhhhh, okay.
But who actually knows whats a police OCT?
Who actually knows such a thing exist?
Huh? There is a "ocs" in the police force?
NS inspectors? NSPI?
Oh, there is such a thing?
Dude, thats what I'm gonna be when i pass out.

Next, lets look at OCS.
Officer Cadet School, JCC, officers(ie. sir(s)) of the SAF, 2nd lieutenant, 1 black/choco bars.
Every one knows that.
Hey, u got into ocs? WHOA!!!!
Thats what people would say.
Tough, but it trains u to be a man.
Blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, u ppl must be thinking this guy here is just jealous.
He cant get into ocs, he is now a police oct so he is saying such stuff.
Come on!
This is my dream, i got my dream posting!
If i knew there was such a posting earlier, if someone had just told me about this earlier,
I would have known where exactly i wanted to go after bmt.
I wouldn't be struggling to decide whether to go ocs or scs(specialist) after my bmt, oh and there was this period of time when i was so desperate to be a mp(military police).

Ocs gives one the honour and pride which comes at a price of tough(and i really mean TOUGH) training(in the case of infantry).
I wanted the former, but i doubt i can endure the latter.
But police oct on the other hand, gave me what i wanted.
It was like a wish come true.
The former without the latter.
Ok, hold on there.
Before u start jumping and snapping at me, let me explain myself.

Firstly, i know many would say that there is not much honour, pride or respect for an NSPI/NSI.
Ya, people would not respect u but so what?
You mean people would instantly respect/ work for u because u have an officer rank(or senior officer rank), u went through jcc, went through ocs?
Dude, i believe respect is something that is earned not affixed upon.
How many 2nd lieutenants out there cant "buy" their men to work for them?
How many platoon commanders(the post that these guys hold) out there are overshadowed by the sergeants?
People may belittle an NSPI initially, but if you can prove yourself, u have what it takes to shoulder that rank, what reason is there for people not to accord u the respect u deserve?
Its just like my FIs(field instructor), they might me POs(or junior officers in rank) but because the way they carry themselves and the way they lead us, i am willing to put in my best effort to work and comply with their orders.
I respect them.
And if you wanna talk about pride and honour, read on, its after the next paragraph.

Now, lets move on to the part on tough training.
This may sound like a lame excuse, but army just isn't the place for me.
I hate living in the jungle, hate putting on face paint(camouflage cream) , hate crawling in the mud, hate digging the earth, hate carrying a rifle everywhere i go, hate the super loud bang bang bang of the rifle, hate the freaking helmet, hate being so filthy all the time, hate walking/kneeling/sitting/prone-ing all over the forest floor.
Dude, I'm not tarzan and i don't wanna be.
I am brought up in a concrete jungle and taught to do things in a civilised way.
I pee and shit in the toilet, not on the forest floor/ drains nor do i dig holes to shit.
I like the pen, i like proper classrooms(ie one with chairs, tables, fan/air-con), like working with computers, ............ , i like living and training in a building/ civilised environment where i feel at home.
And the tough training i am referring to is the "jungle" training i mentioned.
1 field camp and 1 sit test in my bmt is enough, no more out fields for me please.
But if u like it, thats your problem not mine.
When i mean tough i dont mean, running long distances, doing physical training, no.
Pt is not tough, its necessary training.

The next accusation to the police oct is that beacuse we are comfortably living and training in a urban environment, we do more "civilised" stuff , we are so pu**y.
So ocs is the one that is manly.
Come on, whatever.
So u mean, preparing for a war that might not even come in your lifetime is so much braver and macho-er than training to ensure the internal security of your nation?
Who says NSPI will not meet with a life-threatening situation one day? You mean criminals don't hold guns and weapons, only enemies do?
Its a different kind of work and of cause the training would have to cater to the differing demands.
Don't like it? Suck thumb!
Can't stand it? Go ooc la.
Can't go OCS even though u think u are so astoundingly good? Hey, why didn't u get company best or platoon best in tekong if u were so "UP!" and so good? I'm sure those "bests" had a place in ocs.

Having expressed all my differing views to what i have read and encountered, however there is something i can agree on.
The OCTs should really learn or start behaving like cadets and senior officers to be.
Sometimes i wonder why are some people even here.
I am not saying that i am very discipline, i do slack off at times(who doesn't?), remind me/ scold me/ say whatever u like at the mistakes i do, i accept it.
Just make sure u do not ever repeat those mistakes yourself too, or u will just look really stupid.
But to me the stuff i do are like minor stuff which at most irritates the ic(but come on, i have been an ic before and isn't these stuff about drills and punctuality part and parcel of the job? I got my fair share of that nonsense too) , but i don't commit major offences(at least not anymore).
What i find very hard to accept is that till this date, people are still behaving so nonchalantly.
Doing whatever they like, whenever they like without thinking of the consequences.
Trying to express some right or privileges they think they or octs should have.
I dono, acting irresponsibly?
I sick of people out-rightly destroying the name of oct and i am definitely sick of being punished as batch for stupid stuff and for people i don't think deserve the entire batch suffering for.
I know that the logic goes in such a way that we have to work as a team and thus suffer as a team, and we should all learn the lesson which is to remind each other(perhaps?).
But to hell with that k, cos i don't care, i don't think i can work or want to work with such people.
Stop dragging me down with you.
Yeah, i am being selfish here.
I propose that next time we get knocked down for nonsense again, the offender(s) should just say "Sir, i was the one who do it and i deserve to be punished for my mistakes. The squad did not do anything wrong to deserve this, they reminded me but i did not listen to them. So please do not punish them and let me atone for what i did myself."
I thought of this earlier this afternoon and i told myself i would do it.

Ok, once again i criticise people when i am not perfect myself.
But who cares?
Who the hell is perfect?
If one have to be an angel to condemn stuff they do not approve of, the world would be so quiet you could hear a pin drop any moment.
I was just airing my views just like you are entitled to air yours (provided you know your limits and don't break the law).
That ocs and oct for me.
Thank you and see you again.
Good night(for me).
Scott signs off.