Leadership training 26 Feb to 16 Mar

I remembered the days we were to wake up early in the morning at 6.15am and fall in, in front of the parade sq facing the leadership training wing. My mind was filled with lots of uncertainties and doubts as to what kind of training will we be going through today. For me gone were the days of my physical prime, I just wished I could survive through whatever training they are going to throw at me.

Training was tough besides from the normal running with our 15kg backpacks, we did logs PT, obstacle course, situational tests, and casualty evacuation exercises. All this training seemed to be selection course for the STAR team or the commandoes but they are really important for senior police officers like us. It is to train up our mental and physical resilience in face of difficult crisis Singapore may face.

We were drilled with procedures to do operation orders and planning and how to do quick Appreciation of Situation AOS, and were assessed through various exercises in different types of terrain such as arresting II in Mandai jungle, arresting drug syndicate at Changi Creek, etc. It is a very different type of experience althought the mental and physical fatigue resembled the times i went through in the army when we were to "chiong sua" (charge up mountain). But i appreciated the training objectives in the end.

The finale was marked with a 19 day field mission to the land of the lost - Nepal. This place is so dilapidated that it is so hard to find even a public phone in the mountains. Satellite phone calls are charged at USD 5 per minute but i managed to bargain to USD 5 for 5 min. The lost contact with civilization was really too hard for me to bear. I missed my family and my dearest Trini so much.

Apart from the vast mountain and beautiful scenery that was posed to us, the terrain really sucked. Imagine walking on tight edges with no support, rocky paths lined with cow dung and loose soil filled with pot-holes! They did no help to my poor aching ankles and height phobia. Few sustained injuries along the way but im impressed by the way the squad came about to overcome these mishaps.

The end of the field mission saw us did a 2 day white water rafting along Kathmandu. It was fun! But the thrill factor was kinda let down, it was more of a disneyland adventure boat ride rather than a thrilling raft on rapids. Worse still, i fell sick due to the lousy "waterproof" rainjackets that they provide. I think it was more of water resistant than waterproof.

Anyway glad to be home finally on 16 Mar. Back to civilization at last!

Looking back, it has almost been a month back. I really would like to thank the Guchees (Nepalese Gurkha trainers) - Tucci sup, Surin sup, MK sup and Zainal sup for all the efforts they put into making this training a success. Last but not least there was this one man whom i really respect from the bottom of my heart. He is none other than Col Bruce Nivens. His words his mental and physical strength dispite his age of 70+ really touched me. Below are his 2 quotes that i remembered deeply.

"Treat all men as your spiritual equals"
"Leadership is about commanding affection and communicating energy"

I hope i can be a successful leader too.