I told myself that I would finish this post before May 2013 but my constant distractions such as the television shows and the Internet has occupied my relatively blank schedule over the past few weeks. Plus, I intended to write a lot for this post, perhaps that could prove to be a procrastination for me here.

Now let's go back to finale for this series of post. Being posted to any unit taking up any appointment is definitely a unique and individualistic experience. I mean, different people in a unit take up different jobs, so the things they do and what they learn from it is different. Even among people who does the same type of job but in different unit, the work culture and experience would also be differentiated. Finally, doing the same job in the same unit would not necessarily mean the experience is the same. The takeaway for each individual is special, something which cannot be replicated for another.

With a multitude of postings, there could only be a route for me to take. I embarked on the journey of instruction in training and this instructional role, I must say, it's definitely a challenging one.

Constant change of faces you meet, packed activities one after another, early days and late nights, an iceberg of knowledge to be equipped with in a short time and many roles to play in a single day. These are just the start of an instructor had to do. I've never worked in office a day without a schedule. Within the schedule itself contains routine tasks which to be monitored daily. Imagine the amount of concentration and thinking an instructor has to process as an activity transits into another. The reaction has to be fast. Slow orders would render a herd of lost sheep and a cloud of restlessness, followed by a finger pointed at you asking what was going wrong. Sandwiched between superiors and trainees, I knew I had to always paint a mental picture of what's next to expect and communicate effectively with my colleagues to ensure that nothing goes wrong. That does not just happen during my days as duty instructor. Management of course administration was another big giant that I constantly had to face everyday. Plan for the week, the next week, the following week and the week after that had close relations with one another. The worst were the small stuff which doesn't seem important at first. Pile it up, and off you go with a huge problem. Transitions between weeks of course was important despite that the course activities could be a totally different one. I would not forget those days when I had to keep on flipping between pages of the course schedule and keep recalling and checking what was done and what's yet to be completed.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Nevertheless, a foolproof plan with all considerations taken in does not exclude itself from external factors. At any point of time, any other external event or activity may cause disruption to what was set out in the plan. It can be like big things, such as your big boss giving a half-day off to the trainees because of some public holidays or even small things like external courses or ICT occupying the rooms despite things being tied down beforehand. Because of such factors, a constant attention to the running of the course was needed. I wouldn't forget those times when instructors had to constantly 'take care' of the course. I have seen how other instructors lose that attention and let things go wild. Those repercussions were detrimental and I would say that reprimands were just too light a sentence to give.

Another aspect was on the relations side of an instructor. An instructor cannot be an islander by himself. Communication is key. In front of the trainees, an instructor has to be able to manage them on the ground. Every word or action an instructor does make a difference to the trainees. How an instructor behave would affect the trainees' impression of him. Different instructors take different approaches to different types of trainees. Some are friendly by nature, some would be firm while some choose to be happy-go-lucky instead. The so-called 'bond' between an instructor and trainees is important because learning takes place only when trainees are willing to learn and open to learning. Bad relations between the instructors and trainees would only make experiences more miserable than ever.

I remember those days when connections were really important, not just within office, between offices but also between units. A group of instructors is common, but a group of instructors who can 'click' in work is rare. Instructors really needed to work well with one another because there are tons of tasks to be accomplished. Running a course isn't a one-man show. The duty instructor, so-called 'Instructor of the Day' is rotated between the course instructors. Tasks on the other hand, continues with the course till it is completed. When a task has to be handed from one to another, the crux is in the hand over of information. If one fails to pass it down fully and properly, the actions taken would be different and thus leads to another result. At the end of the day, more work has to be done when rectifying the matter, thus inefficiency breeds.

The leader of the group was also important to the instructors, since it meant who one would be directly working under. Sad to say, there is definitely flaws in every leader. Thus, working as an instructor really needed me to know my leaders well, their work ethics, working style and management. Being an instructor needed much of an ability to make judgements and conclusions with an open mind, be it with trainees, fellow instructors, colleagues or even superiors.

I cannot emphasise much on the interdependence between the offices in my unit. In a way or another, there would be times when we need help from other offices. Having to know these people well really helps in my work as an instructor. Plus, these group of people also serve as very well companies for lunch, sharing and gossips when we let our hairs down during the day. All that made work less stressful but rather more interesting instead.

The last is having connections between units, which really helped me quite a lot when it came to postings orders for the course or course matters for Combined Arms Term. My coursemates during Spec Course went various units and held various appointments. When it came to postings involving those units my coursemates were in, things could be done so much easier since we were friends. Working with someone you know will always be better than working with strangers. Nevertheless, working with strangers would also mean working with friends from the future, which actually expands one's social circle much. At the end of my NS, I believe I have interacted way much more people I have ever did in my life.

As an instructor, I was looked upon to have knowledge of my subject matter and expected to be able to execute it well. I would not forget those days when I had to think and re-think about what I have learnt in terms of knowledge and skills. To evaluate the different types of skills taught to me and be able to synthesise the information given. Obtaining these information was difficult, as content can only be found in directives, manuals and from the warrant officers I knew. There was a lot of research and learning since I felt that an instructor's level of knowledge and skills must be higher than the trainees since that's one primary role expected of an instructor. It was gratifying when my warrant officers were willing to share these information, to a situation when some of us instructors were overloaded with information and got headaches with it!

Care from the instructor is definitely something which cannot be further emphasised. Instructors needed to be able to empathise with trainees, know them well in order to run the course well. No matter how vast knowledge an instructor has or how well they could execute physically, instructors who don't care suck. Worse would be those who doesn't have any knowledge or skills at all and yet doesn't care about it. I'm not saying that instructors have to be emotional or literally caring to trainees. Rather, I felt that instructors needed to be able to think for the trainees on top of themselves. That responsibility which I always believed in because I would feel bad if my trainees suffer because of my nonchalance or irresponsibility. That is one part of professionalism an instructor has to be able to embody I would say.

I would say that's what I come up with about the role of an instructor for now. To sum it up, below are my thoughts on the demands and expectations of an instructor. I would say that not every fresh Specialist graduate would be able to meet these demands. Selection of an instructor is more of looking at the character before achievements so that at the end of the day, this character can be groomed to meet the demands and expectations.

Demands of an instructor:

1. Passionate in instructional role and committed to be the best of himself as an instructor

2. Takes Initiative to think, work, learn and make changes to improve work performance for all

3. Communicates well among colleagues, superiors and trainees

4. Able to react effectively on the ground alone without compromise of the well-being of trainees

5. Knowledgeable in subject matter, be it theory or practical

6. Care for trainees well-being

7. Sensitive to surroundings including trainees especially

Expectations of an instructor:

1. Professionalism - as a leader when handling course matters be it trainee or administration

2. Role model - Behaviour, words and actions

3. Communicate well with different parties

4. Learner-Leader

5. Strong character, able to handle stress and failures

As a section commander, I really grateful for the experience because of the people I've met under my charge. The dispersion of trainees into sections is really random and I'm glad that I was quite lucky to have less problematic trainees compared to the rest of the instructors. Other than experiencing how being a section commander feels like, I have learnt quite a lot from each individual I have come across during my tour as section commander for the trainees. Every interaction with each individual is something new I learn about them as the conversation goes on throughout the course. It gave me different perceptions of how people think, what they felt and the reactions they made when it came to a particular matter that happened be it in general or to them personally.

The personal aim of every instructor I would say is to see his trainees perform. Other than pushing those who could perform and achieve higher, there was more satisfaction I felt when it comes to motivating those who actually have the potential but not performing it at all. I have come across a few of them from my different courses and I must say it's definitely heartening to see these people achieve what they didn't believe they could in the first place. These people may not have been the best of the course but seeing them grow from the process was something which I admired greatly. Being an instructor taught me about not just focus on grooming the 'elites' but rather release the potential of those who have it.

Reading the weekly journals and reflections from each trainee during each week of the course is not something routine. Ironic much but I liked to read the various weekly thought processes of the trainees they penned down on paper and see how they think. Other than allowing the trainees to reflect on their learning, it's also a learning process for me in learning to make judgements of a person's character and thoughts. That way, it will not be just knowing the trainees but rather understand them. That makes communication way much more fruitful rather than superficial conversations instead.

Undeniably, in the last journal entry of every trainee, I sometimes yearn for 'thank you' notes from my section. I know that it is kinda of thick-skinned to expect that but I'm glad that not all of them wrote because I would have go 'lost' in that superficial pursuit. More importantly, I always reminded myself that I know what I have done for them and that I should not expect anything since it is my role in the first place. Plus, their achievements are something they have done, not me. I would say I'm more of a catalyst - speeding up their growth to achieve more.

I wouldn't forget that at the end of each course, I always had a last message for my section. Perhaps that 10 or 14 weeks with each of them was too short for me to really teach them all that I have learnt and I know that it's impossible for them to learn everything from someone else. In life, there are just some things which we have to discover for ourselves and learn from. In that last message, I thanked them for the experiences they gave me and wrote down some things to expect as a MP or as a Specialist. I guess that sense of responsibility got too strong on me and I really cherished my time with them.

As an instructor, I have really learnt a lot about the word 'leadership'. What it meant, what it does not mean and what it means to different people and me. There's a lot of rediscovery of many things in life which we overlook everyday, like food, work and people. Hard skills may not be applicable to the world out there, but the soft skills do. Because of this instructional role, I believe I'm now better equipped to face and pursue my aspirations. I'm filled with much gratitude, really.

My 1 year 10 months of NS was really enriching. Despite a relatively 'short' time, I felt that I have really learnt so much more than ever. Life skills like these are something which schools can't teach but rather through experience you'll learnt. I'm glad to have met nice people who have taught me much during each phase of my NS life. My takeaway? Not just the IQ, EQ and AQ, but friendships, laughter, experience, memories and life lessons, and those little things which no amount of money can ever buy.

~ End of Part 5 ~