Ah ASLC. Oh joy.
Those words stirred in me, a funny mocktail of disappointment and fair expectation. That little sliver of hope that went POOF where I no longer flirted with the idea of Yes! Not infantry and fell into the I-Knew-It zone. I've known all along that me wanting to be in anything else but infantry would be me facing everything but reality.
But what is the BIG hoo-ha anyway?
Most of the guys, no scratch that, practically all the guys I know don't want to be in infantry namely because it means more outfield, more SOC and more outfields plus route marches. But if one were to think about it, the infantry is as respectable a vocation as any other. Ok, so we march with bags of stones while Armour rolls by waving. So military police have lectures in military law in air-conditioned halls while we dig fire trenches in some god forsaken mud pit. So we climb hills in the rain while Signals and Intel points us the way from some warm benches. But WE ARE the army. Wars are incited by the infantry and it is the infanterie who ends it.
We are but a vocation and we do what we do. As simple as that. There's no point complaining or comparing between vocations. To each its own. At the end of the day, there might be some who feel cheated in that we suffer more than others, but we come out stronger, mentally and physically as well. Give and take is the axiom we should live by.
So this is where the end begins. The end of Specialist School begins with our first book-in into our respective units for Pro term. Others have done it before "singaporearmystories.blogspot.com" and we will do this now.
Alright, now that I have clearly managed to convince myself in this short few minutes that the infantry is the best vocation, I will return to my smelly LBV and Helmet tomorrow smiling, a better man. I hope.
