In Camp Training started on Monday with a call from a then still unknown Lieutenant who confirmed that I was indeed a Company Sergeant Major, or CSM in short. Well this LTA was my Officer Commanding, aka OC, and he was taller than me! Haha no joke there.
One of the first few things I received after in-processing? This folder:
While I knew quite a while ago that I was going to be CSM, via the Ops Warrant was my CSM when I was a Section Commander back at 30 SCE. Still, no amount of mental preparation could have prepared me for what the appointment entailed. As much as I've cleared the Advanced Engineer Specialist Course (AESC), it covered mainly the ops role of a CSM. As such I was left to fend for myself, since I was thrown into the deep end immediately for my first ICT. I had no upper-study, and did things according to what I felt was right and whatever little I could apply from what I could remember from observing my CSM back at 30 SCE.
Anyway, it was... interesting (I'm not sure what other adjective would be appropriate) to be a Third Sergeant (3SG) CSM, who also happens to be what could be the youngest person in the battalion.
Not showing off or anything, but typically regulars take 7 years at the very least to become a CSM, and most are appointed CSMs only when they are 28 to 30 years old. The typical rank for a CSM is Master Sergeant (MSG), and the minimal should be a Staff Sergeant (SSG). Therefore I am four ranks away from a typical CSM's rank haha.
I guess it can be kinda hard to gain the respect and confidence of your men when you are this young, and don't even hold a rank that corresponds to your appointment. Very few of my company's specialists were from my batch. There was Chee Yao (yay) who is now my Platoon Sergeant, and Edmund, but Edmund wasn't a field engineer and therefore had been erroneously posted to be a Sect Comd in my company. There was Wai Leong, who used to be my instructor but who was now under my charge as well. In any case, pretty much everyone were older than me, and there were even men who were almost twice my age!
It was also funny how there were specialists from other companies who had higher ranks than me, but who were lower in appointment. They didn't really know what to call me, so they just called me CSM haha.
The other two CSMs were First Sergeants who were ex-regulars, so at least they had more experience than me since they had at least been Platoon Sergeants before. But I think it was the same everywhere; it was chaotic! Things came hard and fast, and everyday was incredibly busy. A CSM's main role was to handle all the administrative and logistics matters of the company, and that is quite a huge task. While everyone was technically allowed to book out every day, it wasn't until Thursday that I booked out, simply because by the time I was done with my work it was already too late to make a trip out worthwhile. One good thing however, that sort of made up for the mental stress, was that I didn't experience any physical strain at all, since a CSM pretty much doesn't take part in the training except to play a supervisory role.
Another "interesting" event include being Contingent Sergeant Major for the Change of Command Parade! Haha I made quite an amateurish mistake during one of the rehearsals. Left hand left leg ftw =p
Lots more to share about the ICT, but I think I'll just sum up and go to bed soon haha. I think I'm not sounding too coherent at the moment because I'm really tired. Moreover I have Xpharm Camp tomorrow! Busy busy as always XD
Looking back, the ICT was actually quite memorable. I think I have forged some new and strong bonds with many (but unfortunately not yet all) of my specialists, as well as the officers. My OC is a funny guy to hang out with, ditto for my 2IC, and my other 2IC was an ex-pharmacy student though he's doing something completely unrelated now, so I think I get along fine with all of them. With this experience under my belt I'll hopefully be able to do a better job come July, when we'll be having our next ICT. High-key too D:
Oh, and hopefully by then I'll get my "rooftop" haha. Aka rank promotion (:
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kheng yong; 19th dec 88
[x] Ashley
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