wow...guess life in the Unit isn't all that bad. i'm in 5sir now, by the way - that's the 5th singapore infantry regiment. yup, that means i'm one of those "normal" rifle carrying soliders that spend lots of time in the jungle feeding mosquitos...hardly the most "glamorous" vocation the army has to offer! well, almost anyway...actually my weapon's a GPMG (short for General Purpose machine gun) and it weighs a bag of rice not including its tripod which would make it 2 bags instead. but the great thing is i don't have to carry the weapon itself - my men do that for me, so basically i just 'supervise' the deployment and maintainence of this new-found toy of ours.

but obviously i can't simply stand around and 'use eye power' all the time..i've gotta train up these guys (i'm in charge of 2 men, ie the gunner and his assistant) both physically and mentally to operate this nifty part of the SAF's arsenal. believe me, it's no mean feat carrying 40+ kilos up a hill with the sun blazing down on you; and having a bag of rice hanging from your neck isn't exactly the most comfortable experience.

i haven't actually gotten to mEeT my men face to face yet though. i was only just assigned to them about an hour ago. it should be an intriguing acquaintance - they're probably 2 of the bigger sized fellows hand picked from the platoon, and for good reason..but who knows - even if they may not appear physically well-endowed, they may just turn out to be "great things" that "come in small packages". i'll be keeping an open mind...

raneth hopped off at 3:42 pm