On my 3rd last day of Combined Arms Term, there was an award and certificate presentation for the course. My instructors from MPTS came down to set up and witness the presentation. Well, I would say it was another comfortable session because all the MPs were together finally after we were separated into syndicates and mixed with the other vocation for the past 7 days. I was glad to meet my section commander, my section mates and the rest of the course given the familiarity and no awkward moments which I faced constantly when at coyline. 

After the award and certificate presentation, the other highlight of the day presented itself. Postings. This time round, postings meant the unit that each individual would be posted to. The first round of postings was vocational postings. Now the second round of postings was unit postings. It can be said to be of particular importance because that would determine what exactly one would be doing till the end of his 2-year stint full-time NS. Two from different units can be of the same vocation but doing totally different things. 

I remember back then while at Professional Term, I expressed interest to be either a guard commander or an instructor. The probability of being a guard commander is way much higher than an instructor given the demands and supply required. I shall not go to the specifics but rather focus on my reasons for it.

 I was being practical when it came to me about being a guard commander because firstly, it's one of the real operations that a MP does and following that would meant greater flexibility of my own time. To my knowledge, there are guardrooms which work on shift basis which has 2 days of work and 2 days of off-duty. Having that extra time would meant more time to focus on things which I personally wanted to do, like studying or learning new stuff. 

However, the drawbacks were the mundane job scope that I would face everyday and having to be at the guardroom all day would mean less time for me to exercise and be out in the sun. I didn't want a NS life when I'm forced to be trapped in a room facing 4 walls all day having no time to go out under the sun, which would mean deteriorating physical fitness. Since enlistment, I have never been much fitter than before. I didn't want to be go back in the state that I used to be, unfit and unhealthy. As such, that kinda of set me back from becoming a guard commander.

Becoming an instructor was another possible choice which I would take up given the myriad of things that instructors do. An instructor's continually follows what the trainees do and that would mean different activities or training for each week. Furthermore, it seemed cool being an instructor given the freedom they had and responsibility over the trainees. Since BMT, I always felt that the instructional role was meaningful given that they passed on their knowledge to a new breed of soldiers and has the ability to empower and influence a large group of soldiers. It would be satisfying for another instructor to see his own batch of trainees graduate when he knows that all the effort he had put in bore fruit at the end. Lastly, I felt that it would really help to boost my confidence when addressing to large group of people which is really needed for work in the future. As such, the amount of life skills I would obtain would be way too much.

On the other hand, being an instructor is no easy feat. Back then during Professional Term, as I looked at my instructors and heard from them, the expectations of an instructor was really high. In MPTS, they chose the high performers from the course to be instructors. They needed the knowledge, physical fitness, application and leadership skills. Imagine an instructor who cannot meet expectations, such as physical fitness or skills. How would the trainees judge upon them? Even as a trainee, I would judge my instructors and it is definitely a norm for trainees to gather round and 'discuss' their instructors, who they liked, who they hated, etc. I felt that it would be real embarrassing had an instructor not know anything. As such, knowing my limits that I was not comparatively good at physical fitness, being an instructor was like a far reach. 

Towards end of Professional Term, I was given a chance for an interview to be an instructor. For my course, it was a tough competition I must say. There were like 7 of us vying for the 2 seats given for my batch to be an instructor. I gave my reasons why I think I should be an instructor on a piece of paper followed by an interview with the wing commander (the term given for OC back then in MPTS).

Now let me refer back to the announcement of postings in Combined Arms Term, which all of us were expecting much. One by one, name by name, we were each given our postings. It was no longer a choice on me to decide anymore whether it was guard commander or instructor. My fate was left to that piece of paper my course commander was reading from. Eventually, my posting was read out and I was given the instructional role at MPTS. That meant that for the next 1 year 2 months of my NS, I will be posted back to MPTS as an instructor to train new MPs-to-be like what my instructors did during my course.

Wow, I did rattled much on how my instructional role came to happen. I am sorry had I bore you with the details. I just felt that I should talk about my thoughts process back then before I was posted to become an instructor so reading back this in the future would let me recall what was going through my mind then.

As I knew that I would be going to be an instructor, there were several considerations I had. For instance, how would I carry myself as a 3SG and an instructor in MPTS? How can I become a good section commander? How can I hone on my skills so that given my current standards back then, I would be able to meet the expectations required when I have my own trainees under me? How should I handle those men which are a tad more difficult to handle and how can I earn the respect of a 3SG? There were many questions that I have yet to find an answer with and much more challenges ahead for me as a 3SG, which I believe my peers in other units also had. Ultimately, these questions were answered one by one through time and reflection which made me really learnt so much not just as a Specialist, but also as a person.

~End of Part 4~