BMT: POP LOH!

19 Sept: POP-ed and one step closer.

I guess time is on my side now to finally reflect and pen down some key things during my BMT experience. My thoughts are rather jumbled up so I'll do it in point form. They're random order:

• Don't as feel proud to POP cause I missed out the 24km route march. I didn't feel all the pain, tears and swearing everyone else went through. Bodies are hot they but they're shivering, palm-sized blisters on their feet, multiple abrasions, shoulder and hands numb, breathlessness, headaches, etc..
• Lucky to be in Section 3 cause they accepted me for the crazy and sometimes weird me.
• Thankful for my buddy, we worked well and helped each other when the time came.
• Lost 5 kg. I'm 48 kg now. A SAR 21 weights 3.82kg.
• Expected to perform better and not complain cause I'm a regular. Yes, I chose this path but it doesn't mean I can't express the pain. Can't I cry? Oh I forgot, I'm a soldier now and we're not to shed tears.
• Couldn't cock the SAR 21 (with 1 hand) in the early days. Happy that now I can!
• Got stuck at the top of Apex ladder and cried. I told myself, "One, Two, Three, MOVE!" Nope, my leg just wouldn't move. Frozen. Cramped. Ugh. 
• Cried for ALL my route marches. I really think my breaking point is lower than most people. 
• Bunk on level 5 is no joke.
• Covered the latrine shit-hole during field camp. Just imagine 5 days worth of human shit and army of flies. 
• Thankful there wasn't any rain during field camp. At least our uniforms were dry and not muddy. 
• A random fellow recruit from another formation/company asked me, "You got leopard crawl in field camp? Here and there?", "Got crawl until abrasion in BIC?" (shows me his elbow scab). I showed him mine. He shut up.

I admit, generally SOME guys will think we females have it easier, they will want to compare. Yes, some aspects are easier, like for SOC we don't do with SBO, our IPPT and SOC timings are more generous. However for most parts, everything is the same. Same time limit to dig the shell-scrape, same route march distance, same load, same leopard crawl, same discipline and regimentation. I can simply ignore such comments and let it pass and say well, I signed up for it should just suck it up, but no. After going through all the shit and pain, just cause you were not there to witness it and then make a fleeting comment that "females have it easier", it just irks me.

Those comments are just going to spur me on cause I'm gonna prove to people like you that gender doesn't make a difference. Everyone can do it. With God's grace I will just push on. 

5th Oct I'll enter the grounds of SAFTI to start my long OCS journey. I'm just going to take one small step at a time, with 2 weeks of CLM first. I heard there'll be runs every day. Not forgetting the big jump off a 5 meter platform.. Okay literally ONE STEP (off the platform) at at time. 

Egg-cited! :D