Originally posted by Tango1:
I don't know how the SAF can change the CST without losing realism....it was quite different by the time I left already. The head-dunking exercise was the norm actually; it was part of POW training...so was the 'starvation phase'. The worst thing for me was the blind-folding part....made us leopard crawl thru' mud and all...I didn't mind the mud; just that some joker officer or specialist pushed my head down into the mud pool without any warning...looked like some Viet Cong prisoner afterwards...
Maybe if they did a more stringent selection of recruits for these more siong-types of vocation? I dunno...what do you guys think?
True. I did CST too, back in 2000, and even then, my company mates and I already thought it was really tame. In fact, at no point of time did I feel like I was a POW at all. The head dunking treatment was a standard and everyone received it. I never thought that it would be possible for anyone to die from it. Rather we all looked back and saw it as kinda fun. I still have fond memories of Staff Thambi and, of course, who can forget, Bala..
A balance between realism and safety can never be achieved I think. When I was taiwan, we talked to our drivers who were actual combat fit marines. They told us that death was a part of their exercises. They have a saying that Exercises are the same as War. Being in a country that is always on the verge of fighting, that may hold true. But in Singapore, we are so used to peace that realism just have to take second place to safety.
I guess Tango is right. The SAF is becomming rather lax in selection for units. But then again, there are many different kinds of fitness. Physical, Field, Mental etc. Not all can be tested prior to selection. So, in the end, nothing will change.
Except for CST training I suppose. I think for the next batch, they will just be lectured on the kinds of torture they will receive if they are captured.. No actual physical training will take place..