Infantry Professional Term Reflection - With Pride We Lead! Specialists!

 Hi all, NepNero here.

I've officially graduated as a 3SG from Specialist Cadet School and have been posted out. There are new Specialist Cadets out there that are incoming (from what I heard), so hopefully this blog post will help them get accustomed to SCS and hopefully, Infantry Professional Term when they go through it.

Before we get started, I think it's important to give a gist of what Infantry Professional Term is.

The professional term is a term lasting 12 weeks. Throughout these 12 weeks, you will be engaging in infantry Techniques and Tactics as well as learning how to take up leadership roles during important missions. The 12 weeks here will sharpen you as an Infantry Specialist who will be capable of teaching your men in the future, or undergoing tougher courses that will no doubt challenge you (Guards Commander Conversion Course).

The 12 weeks include:

- Backyard Training (3D0N)

- Urban Operations Close Quarters Battle (3D2N)

- EX Gypsy (2D0N)

- Section Battle Course

- EX GRANDSLAM (5D4N)

- EX Longstride (Up to 2D1N)

- Advanced Trainfire Package (ATP)

- Demolition Live Firing

- Platoon Battle Course (3D0N)

- Basic Instructional Training 

- EX WARRIOR (5D4N)

- EX Team Grit

- Rest and Recovery

And of course, your goal:

The Specialist Cadet Graduation Parade

I'll go through each of these events and provide some personal insight/advice and my reflections on these events. I personally hope that through reading my reflection about the entire course, that you will be able to avoid the mistakes I made and learn to appreciate the Infantry Professional Term more; as 12 weeks pass by extremely quickly.

In-Processing (Week 1)

Your in-pro will be about the same as your foundation term in-pro. You'll be given time to adjust and bond with your new section after you've received your Senior Specialist Cadet rank. My only advice here is to really take charge of bonding with your section. They'll be your support for the next 12 weeks, where you'll endure, suffer and enjoy together as a team. With my section of 11 people, we were closely bonded to each other and we were able to joke around with each other to liven up the mood when things went sour. This was prevalent especially during the first week, where everyone felt incredibly down as no one wanted to be an Infanteer. Yet, we all accepted our vocation and decided to put our effort to ensure that we would all pass out together.

Backyard Training (Week 2)

Backyard Training occurs around the Rambutan Hill area. You'll spend about 3 days in the area learning infantry tactics, such as how to assault as a platoon up a hill, breach concertina wire and much more. It would be advisable to pay attention here as many of these tactics will be applicable during EX GRANDSLAM and EX WARRIOR, where you'll be actively attacking and defending key positions.

It's also a good idea to do multiple equipment checks. You don't want to have gone through the entire day running up and down the hill, only to realise that you have lost your blank attachment and have to search the entire hill again for it. It's a tedious process and I hope no one else will ever have to deal with a POS losing his stuff in the middle of nowhere.

Normally, the backyard training should be a 3D2N event. However, my OC Lynx MWO Vinod Kumar submitted a proposal to CO LTC Benson suggesting that this training have us cadets go up the hill and back down to coyline daily, instead of having to sleep out in the field. This was our first taste of welfare in SCS in a long time, and we were happy to be able to come back daily to take a refreshing shower and eat cup noodles before sleeping in a (somewhat) comfortable bed.

A good story to tell here would be one of 3SG WX, who was somewhat sick during the entirety of the backyard training. The poor guy was going through a platoon attack up the hill and heard "Ice Fire Ice" instead of "Ice Spider Ice", and he fired off a blank outside the firing period, which would usually be considered a negligent discharge. Fortunately, the mistake was let off and he was allowed to fall out of the training as he was feeling unwell. (Poor guy)

After your backyard training, you will be tasked (on a Thursday) to help out with the Specialist Cadet Graduation Parade for the previous batch (53/22 helped with 52/22). If you're lucky enough, you'll be assigned to the leaders square, where you'll be able to see the prideful new specialists marching in their No. 1 uniforms. It's a grandiose occasion, and hopefully will give you some incentive or morale to push through the rest of Professional Term.

Urban Operations Close Quarter Battle (Week 3)

Week 3 is where you'll learn how to engage in Urban Operations battles, instead of the Mubai Urban Training Facility, you'll be sent to a different Urban Operations training area (I forgot the name lol) where you'll deal with more HDB-styled buildings instead of the shophouse-ish buildings in MUTF. You'll also learn about the use of UOCE, which will help you in clearing rooms quickly and (honestly not) efficiently with your section.

Be aware that everyone should help out in their own way, and don't slack off during this period of time, as once again, UOCQB will be employed during EX GRANDSLAM and EX WARRIOR. Also, bring some sweets and snacks with you to the training area, it'll get pretty tiring and you'll be somewhat hungry or have a lack of energy throughout the day (I highly advise bringing sour patch and some Oreos/Ribena Pastilles as they have generally high sugar content that'll give you that energy boost).

Another funny story I have to share during UOCQB would be a "Door right door op- HOLY SHIT IT'S CLOSED". I was asked to demonstrate UOCQB drills with my section to the entire company, and I ended up as 2nd LAW. During my drill, I didn't properly check the door on my right and asked the 1st M203 to chuck a grenade. Imagine our laughter and shock when we saw the grenade bounce back towards us and us scatter into the previous room. Everyone was laughing hysterically and this became a running joke in Lynx Company for the remainder of the professional term (i.e "Ey bro, make sure you got your ID tag ah, dun later Door right Door Open ah")

EX Gypsy (Week 4)

One high-key after another, you getting tired yet?

EX Gypsy takes place in Lower Mandai (Usually), but this time, we actually conducted EX Gypsy near the McRitchie Reservoir Park path. EX Gypsy is your first Unguided navigation, where you'll have your section trainer with you on the first day, and no one to guide you on the second. EX Gypsy is known for its incredibly dense vegetation and long off-the-road bashing you'll have to do in order to get to your checkpoints. It'll be similar to going through a maze of mirrors where everything looks the same and appears to be never-ending. Furthermore, you'll be carrying your field pack with the 10-pack items inside, which only adds to the exhaustion you'll be experiencing.

EX Gypsy is where my section appeared to have struggled the most in NAVEX, as although we had our section trainer, we ended up bashing about 2 km into the jungle and getting lost either way. It was only when we had to get back for the night rally, that our section trainer took out his phone and guided us back to the control point with the GPS. Saved by technology once again.

Some advice I have is to follow the path you plotted on your map accurately, and I mean ACCURATELY. Go off a single half dot and you'll be bashing through vegetation for the next 2 hours with no sign of your checkpoint. You'll also want to make sure that your pacing is correct, as if you don't pace correctly and bash into the jungle, you'll simply get lost like we did. (Also, bring some snacks again, you'll need them. Trust me)

Section Battle Course (Week 5)

TO BE CONTINUED