Soldier with the Singapore Assault Rifle 21 (SAR-21) in a live firing exercise
Seven weeks into BMT, I had my first field camp and live firing experience. The skills I had learnt in the past weeks will be put to test. My repertoire of military skills now included basic close combat, loading a rifle in under 20 seconds, field movements and hand signals, and constructing makeshift structures such as a stretcher and a tent. While we were marching towards our field camp site, I instinctively opened my mouth just as my left foot touched the ground and sang the words “Echo after me ya…”. The whole platoon echoed my words and I proceeded to lead them in cadence tunes such as “Training to be soldiers” and “Airborne”. According to Gee, ‘acquisition is a process of acquiring something subconsciously by exposure to models and a process of trial and error, without a process of formal teaching’ (Gee, 20). Indeed, over the course of seven weeks, from one who is ignorant and apathetic towards National Service, I have came to acquire and appreciate the art of being a soldier - I was able to grasp moments that required me to intervene and boost the morale of my platoon, and at the same time I realized that I was able to process and execute commands without having to translate the words into their English meaning as I had during the first two weeks of BMT.
In a similar vein, Vygotsky’s idea of language which first arises as a means of communication between the subject (me) and the operating environment (the military) before subsequently developing into a mental function which I can naturally harness upon to perform task aptly characterizes my experience with military commands (Vgotsky, 15).
The 6-day field camp was the first major evaluation of the soldiering skills we had learnt in BMT thus far. It involved a situational awareness test where various scenarios were hurled at us as we took turns being the group team leader. An example of a scenario would be to carry out a simulated demolition mission with one critical team member being taken out of commission midway through the mission. It was a test to determine our aptitude for Command school after BMT. The field camp was fundamentally what Gee would describe as a test of our military literacy where our demonstration of ‘control over the discourse’ would lead us to the acquisition of a higher position within the organization (Gee, 19).
Seven weeks into BMT, I was now more knowledgeable the SAF rank structure and was able to relate to what my friend, Daniel, said about wanting to be an officer because it is perceived to be more prestigious. Everyone in my group were determined to prove their leadership capabilities and shine during the situational awareness test. Well, everyone except my buddy, Haris. For weeks, Haris has been telling me that he’d rather not go into Command school to become an officer or specialist as it was ‘too much work’; however, I took his words with a pinch of salt every time he mentioned it. During the group introduction, Haris once again clarified his intention of not qualifying for Command School. Haris’ comment was immediately scoffed at by two guys, whom I recognize were from the neighboring platoon, and they remarked that getting into Command school was ‘the dream’ for everyone. While the other members of the group kept silent, I believe that the two guys were simply projecting the exact sentiments everyone, myself included, had about Haris’ comment. Kirkland’s idea of literacy being ‘made acceptable when serving dominant group interests and stigmatized when encouraging the perspectives of the socially marginal’ shows how Haris’, as a minority in terms of his military ambition, was immediately deemed unacceptable from the majority group who cannot recognize the existence of anyone having a fundamentally different opinion from theirs (Kirkland, 379).
Besides the situational awareness test where everyone was particularly competitive, which made the atmosphere tense and uncomfortable, I actually enjoyed the rest of the field camp. The training provided was intense and having to drop to the ground every five minutes because of simulated artillery strikes was tiring, but as my platoon mates and I gathered around our tents at night, we would talk about our lives outside of National Service while making friendly jibes at each other, and this created long-lasting memories for me. During those nights, the thoughts of our lives before National Service seemed far and distant although it had only been seven weeks since we transitioned into BMT. In retrospect two years later, it is fascinating how much my identity, and correspondingly, my viewpoints and values, have changed since my enlistment.