MARCHING ON
Aysha Raihanna Binte Abdul Razak, 9, takes on a late-night route march, walking hand-in-hand with the graduating female recruits of Scorpion Company.Photos // Chai Sian Liang
My dad is 3rd Warrant Officer Abdul Razak Bin Hassan. His camp is at Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) School 3, where he is the Company Chief Trainer in Pegasus Company.
Sometimes, he's not able to come home because of work commitments. I hear him telling my mom that he has field camp, range or route march. I had no idea what they were, but I got to learn a bit by going through a route march myself!
On the morning of my march, I felt very excited and woke up early, in anticipation of the trip. We had to take a ferry to Pulau Tekong from the Singapore Armed Forces Ferry Terminal.
GETTING PREPPED
At the camp, I did warm-up exercises with the soldiers, like jumping jacks, squats and stretches. It was more tiring than the Physical Education classes at school, but the soldiers told me that they have to do it before every activity to prevent injury.
The soldiers then marched off for the first 8km of their march. When they came back to their rest point, it was time for dinner. I felt shy because everyone was looking at me, but I greeted them with a smile and a simple "Hello".
After eating dinner together with Scorpion Company, I rested for a while before continuing to the highlight of my experience. Before marching, we formed lines of three and I was in the middle, surrounded by the brave and pretty female soldiers.
ALL SET TO MARCH
The marching began as we made our way to Rocky Hill Camp. As we marched, I held hands with some of the soldiers and we sang songs together. I had so much fun doing the Scorpion Company's Cheer with them! We walked past open fields, other camp buildings and forests too. Because the route march was at night, the forest looked creepy and it was too dark for me to see. But I tried to be brave just like the other female soldiers.
After marching for quite a while, everyone was feeling tired because of the heavy bags - including me. But just like them, I kept going and cheered them on by repeating: "Platoon 4, keep going!". They echoed back: "Keep going!" That was the motto for my exciting experience. Through the soldiers, I learnt about a lot of things, especially teamwork. They taught me that if others are in trouble, we should help them. And rather than telling others what to do, we should do it together as a team.
After an hour of walking, we finally reached Rocky Hill Camp! It was time to rest. We took out our water bottles and did a cheer and equipment check before drinking.
As I was very tired, I did not continue the rest of the march. My dad and I went back to Ladang Camp on a rover. He told me that I had marched for about 5km.
I was happy, proud and sad at the same time. After experiencing the tough route march, I felt sorry for the other female soldiers because they were still doing it while I was already resting.
A NIGHT AT TEKONG
To experience what it was like staying overnight in camp, I slept in one of the bunks at Scorpion Company. Lieutenant (LTA) Dilys Choo, my chaperone, showed me my bed. I liked the bunk bed because I got to sleep on the upper deck! I slept soundly and the next morning, LTA Dilys woke me up when it was time to report at Level 1. After the counting of strength to make sure everyone was around and having breakfast, we went to the hard court to have our first parade.
Soon after, my dad came to fetch me home. I said "goodbye" and "thank you" to all the female soldiers for taking care of me and allowing me to have the best experience ever.
If given a chance, I want to experience it again and maybe do more too. I already miss the female soldiers. Now I'm thinking…should I join the army or continue with my dream of becoming a dancer?
