Route March

Haha... Travelling back in time again.
Realised that I always talked about it, but never blog about it.

Loyang Way or Lok Yang Way, it does not matter. It is a start of an arduous journey.
These are the 2 places where we usually starts our Route March training.

Route Marches are like rites of passage for infantry soldiers to mark significant milestones during their NSF days.

24km to mark our POP (Passing Out Parade), 40km to mark our ROD (Run Out Date).

It is always interesting how we prep ourselves for routes marches.
Petroleum Jelly, Bicycle Tights, Two pairs of socks, Plastic Bags...

It is always fun to see the raised eyebrows of the cashiers when a bunch of soldiers cleared the shelves of Petroleum Jelly. =D

So this is how it looks like...
Lots of Petroleum Jelly everywhere that may cause abrasion.
Bicycle tights.
2 pairs of socks, followed by plastic bags.
The 2 pairs of socks that I wore regularly for races now is a test and proven formula that I had done more than a decade ago.

One of our training marches brought us through Nicoll Drive.
Gosh... the long straight stretch can really demoralise everyone.
The only action we saw are the huge number of cars parked in between the trees of which is now the Park Connector. =D

The most embarrassing scenario we came across is the march from CarPark F3 towards East Coast Park towards East Coast Hawker Center.

Again, huge number of cars lined the one way road.
You can see the cars immediately trying to get out of the way...
Only the front few cars were lucky...
The rest of the cars were devoured by an entire battalion of soldiers in the middle of the night...
Talking about being at the wrong place at the wrong time...
And who would have imagine a whole battalion descending on you at 4am in the morning. =D

The actual Route March starts from our camp and ends at Division HQ.
It is then that I knew that the distance covered is the entire length of the PIE!!!
Gosh, a marathon distance is the length of our country.

My company was assigned as the lead company, I was assigned as the Flag Bearer.
The pace was so quick that it felt like a forced march.
Being the flag bearer, I was not constrained by pace of marching within a contingent..
When we reached the checkpoint, the company was punished as the entire company was not able to keep up the pace being set out by my Platoon Commander.
The hardest part of the punishment is that I was not being punished as I was still holding onto the flag at that time.
So much for the "One for All, All for One" thinking.
Surprisingly, no one spoke of the punishment...
It is like all forgotten after we completed the Route March...

Along Tuas, I still remember walking along a six-lane road with my eyes closed for 200m.
Can still distinctively remember walking under the ERP gantry.
Haha... the ERP gantry was still in their testing phase at that time.

First few checkpoints was difficult.
The entire company has to walk in files.
As the night drags on, we become dis-organised.
The company march is still intact, but we have a few renegade soldiers.

Monkey see, monkey do.
When I saw my company mate doing a forced march pace forward, I followed suit.
With everyone draped in Battle Gear, it is not easy for commanders to figure out who is who.

It became so much easier to run than to walk...
I ended up being the second soldier to reach last few checkpoints.

At the very last checkpoint, four of the fastest soldiers to check in was penalised to be the Battalion Medic Team.
Saddled with a stretcher, we were forced to walk behind the entire battalion...
What a bummer...

As the story goes, we were the last few to enter Division HQ...
But the scene that I witness for the last few kilometers were amazing...
Ever seen Black Hawk Down? How the soldiers react when the stadium is in sight?

That is how the battalion is reacting when the camp came into view...
Orderliness is non-existent.
Everyone is sprinting to the Finish...
The fun part is watching the Company Medical Teams running with "injured" solders on the stretchers towards the Finish...

The Route March ended on a high...
No one felt the weariness although we have walked the entire night...
Amazing... Simply Amazing...

Post Route March was the hardest part of the entire Route March...
Everything becomes slow-mo...
The most cruel part? The few of us who ran are fine...
The rest has abrasions, blistered and sore muscles...
Booking in on Sunday night, everyone is lamenting on how they missed the drinking and the clubbing simply because walking is a chore.
Even dating is confined to the four walls of the cosy home.

*-*-*

The fun part about army is that when you reach such stage of exhaustion, somehow you always manage to find ounces of energy from within to push you through missions.

I still can remember to this day the army biscuit tasting like butter cookie. It felt like the best biscuit I had ever tasted.
The canteen water tasting like honey...

I was not able to replicate that day any more...
Army biscuits simply taste awful. Water is just water. =D