Originally posted by wayne2:
1. How much will I be paid during my 2 yrs NS, including PTP/BMT?
2. How's the room like? Any TV? Toilets?
3. What's a day of PTP like?
4. When is each bookout after the first 2 weeks? Every Friday night? Saturday? When must I report back in?
As a recruit, your allowance (it is not a salary) is $350 per month. Same for Private, when you pass out from BMTC. When you get into combat vocations, you will be eligible for combat pay, which is $150 per month.
During your NS, you might be selected to become a specialist or officer. Your pay is around $700 (not including combat pay) as a specialist, and $900 as an officer.
Your bunk over at BMTC will be spartan, but there will be newspapers for you to read, that is, if you are not sleeping from all that exhaustion in during your BMT phase.
I don't know about the routine nowadays, but back in my time (45th PTP enhanced, December 2003!), our routine for PTP went something like this:
0545: Appear magically downstairs. Platoon IC reports strength to Duty Commander. Parade State IC fills up the parade state board, and takes down the names of those reporting sick. Drink water. The 5 basic Exercises...
0600: Breakfast...
0630: Area cleaning
0700: Stand-by area, followed by push-ups
0745: First lesson slot (usually PTs)
0830: Second lesson slot (usually PTs)
0915: Third lesson slot
1000: Forth lesson slot (Usually indoors, or drills)
1045: Fifth lesson slot (Usually indoors, or drills)
1130: Lunch at some lunch timing...
1300: Sixth lesson slot (Usually indoors)
1345: Seventh lesson slot (Usually indoors)
1430: Eighth lesson slot (PTs, drills)
1515: Ninth lesson slot (PTs, drills)
1600: Tenth lesson slot (PTs, drills)
1645: Eleventh lesson slot (PTs, drills)
1730: Dinner at some dinner timing...
Last parade is at variable timings... Usually slated at 1830 for PTP. Only after last parade can you bathe, use your cellular, etc. Normally lessons occupy two slots at one go, but there is the odd one that takes only one slot.
For me, my 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th lesson slots are usually empty (It's called "OC Disposal", which means the OC is free to do what he likes with that slot). You can either have stand-by areas, or if your instructors leave you in peace, sleep on the floor.
My buddy in my unit had his BMT full of stand-by beds, which I should say really trained his hands a lot
while mine was quite relaxed. I won't tell you his company name though...
Book outs should be on Saturday mornings. You have to show up physically at Pasir Ris Interchange on Sunday evenings for the perpetually depressing bus ride to the ferry terminal...
However, you will start to see rules being relaxed when you are out of the "trainee" stage (give it around 1 year and a few months from your enlistment, slightly earlier if you are a commander), and begin real operations. My unit allows individual television sets in the bunks (approved by the CO himself), and the whole company generally sleeps the afternoon off on the bed if we are not having any physical training...
Now that I have revealed so much, it's time for me to go into hiding... The MSD is surely looking for me now
You're not paid my boy. I got $200+ when it was 2001. It was higher than my allowance so I wasn't complaining.