A Typical F Field Camp

A typical F field camp. F for Foxtrot, not the expletive but F for Foxtrot, my company.

The core of all Foxtrot outfields... rain. As with all my other field camps with foxtrot, rain has always been present; section, defensive, offensive, section refresher and now this one.

Imagine being soaked through your uniform, your socks, your underwear with rainwater in the middle of the night. You try to sleep but the cold is like a blockade between you and your place of serene tranquility; an impregnable barrier. You shiver... you pray and you shiver some more; until fatigue overcomes you and you knock out. Even when you manage to get wisps of sleep, you are waken up intermittently by the cold.
The worse night i've experienced thus far was defensive. Imagine this: You are digging your fire trench with your buddy when you hear the clash of thunder, followed by the ruffling of the canopy before you finally feel the relentless pattering of rain drops. You feel heavier because of the downpour which has soaked you. You see the dirt you have strenuously dug up being washed into your hole again. Eventually the water level rises above your boots and you realise you have to drain the water out before you can continue your digging. You take out your mess tin/mug to scoop out the water before you are able to continue digging. Eventually you realise the downpour is so heavy that you spend more time scooping out water rather than digging; your morale drops to the point you see it pointless to dig. You lie beside your trench on a groundsheet laid out by your buddy and try to get some rest. The rain constantly beats down on your face yet you are so shag you eventually knock out. About an hour later, you wake up shivering because your are on the edge of hyperthermia. You shiver continually and you keep on looking at your watch waiting for morning to come yet tick..... tick...... tick....... time passes second by second, almost not passing at all. Your officer then comes down and orders you to continue digging, yet the only thing on your mind is the bitter cold and the despairing task ahead.
Cut the long story short, eventually me and my buddy went to my sect comd/group 3 trench and started burning everything (solid fuel, kiwi, biscuits, paper) we could for heat. We managed to generate heat for an hour and a half before suffering the cold again. When the rain stopped, my buddy and I emptied out the water from the trench which was at waist-level before continue digging.

This field camp, another of my mortal enemies was present... balls and groin abrasion. Walking more than 20km with abrasion = not nice. The trek was screwed up! We started at upper thomson road because the gate to our starting point was locked! We had to wade across waist level stream or 2... walk along a narrow trek through the night filled with pot holes, roots and steep slopes where you held hands in a line just to get down safely. After walking for 7 hours, I was out of water because I was too lazy to carry my waterbag (lesson learnt) and got scolded for having a resup. Next, you cross through a drain which stinks like crap and you cross the water getting all wet again before waiting there for sometime because the front isn't moving. 10 hours and 16km plus of continuous walking... crap. Seriously my eyes were half-closed towards the end and I was seriously sleep-walking some parts, crap seriously. The silver lining though... I was praying continually, helps prayer life doesn't it?

Well... 3 more of these before i ORD!

Rants of a rifleman...