So shortly sooon after receiving that WONDERFUL news that i was going to be revocated as a signaller, i have never felt so compelled to just do well in Signals institute and made sure that i got that signaller tab :P It felt like as though my life was finally changing for the better, after hitting rock bottom at 30SCE, finally i see the light! *eyes shimmer* The moment i knew that i could pack my stuff and run out of camp, i was SO SO SO GLAD, of course, i immediately packed my stuff that afternoon, backpacked that field pack of mine, dragged my duffle bag down the stairs, said my last goodbyes to all of my wonderful OOC friends and i soon found myself literally jogging out of camp, despite of my knee injury alright!! that was how happy i was alright!! Thankfully, Hernando too managed to join me in Signals institute, which was a huge plus point to see your fellow office warrior going to some place better together. Erm that was also where that i told him that actually, i knew how to do all the office stuff and all and he was like SHIT YOUUUUUU but of course he did so jokingly! Okay i was really bad to "act blur live longer" but you don't really have much of a choice when you have to start defending yourself. 

Signals institute was sooooo awesome. Moreover, i knew one of the sergeants there as he used to be one of those hi/bye friends in church, of which later on, just TODAY, TODAY, he became my cell group leader, so we've grown quite a lot closer indeed! :) In signals institute, it's more of a lecture/school kinda thing, just that you wear your no.4. i was put in a platoon that consisted mostly of people from different units, they either OOCed (Out of course) from their unit, or had to be revocated as a signaller for their unit. That's where i met people from all sorts of units, including the other comabt engineer units, MP command, etc etc. So we were looked upon as the more "lao jiao" (senior) people for that batch since we had experience in unit previously, unlike those who came straight from BMT. At the back of my head, i was thinking just how lucky these guys are, to come straight from BMT and not experience the 30SCE shit-slogging that hernando and i had to go through. As such, having experienced hell, Signals institute is really heaven to me. 

Signal Institute

There, we learn a lot of networking stuff, so signallers get a plus point of being CCNA trained, which may be useful for employment in future, it is an actual computer networking skill recognised outside, so pretty cool! lolol once i think of that, i am promptly reminded of the various tests that we always cheat in. Since the test is online, we use internet to source for the answers! plough a bit and you'll find yourself in some blog post that has all the answers sprawled out. that's when you have to be fast in searching for the answers if not you'll run out of time. And yes our sergeants already know that we are all cheating to get the answers and all. Of course dont be stupid and source for every single answers. Some questions are bloody easy, use some of your knowledge and you'll get the answers! Of course we had our smartphones to help us out too, hehehehe and during the final exam, the most crucial one before you leave SI, they ask you to take away the keyboard. Well did you know that every computer has a virtual keyboard on screen? HUE HUE HUE. That, and my smartphone saved me for the last exam :P Of course there are lectures that are extremely dry, but the inceks (warrant officers) there are all really kind!! SI is like incek land. you dont see officers around there other than CO himself. I was really well taken care of during my stay there, inceks were really kind to make sure things are going smoothly, just don't step on their toes or what, they're really nice people. At least for my batch. Cool thing is that i was from Pioneer Junior College, just next door to signals institute!! so guess who popped by school on random days to say hi to teachers! :D i really really miss my JC days, by far the best days of my life i feel :) I knew the place around Signals institute pretty well, going to camp was exactly the same way like going to school in the past, so i really loved my time spent in Signals!

Also, you barely even go outfield?? Of course you learn all the radio sets and all, like their specs and frequencies, how to assemble a manpack signal set, how to mount different set ups into a vehicle, blah blah blah, we had occasional breaks, and these lessons were taught by ex- sign on signallers (inceks) who were out there in the field and have since retired, but are back in SI to teach. They will tell us stories and all, so it doesnt make every lesson a boring one! best part of all, during break, everyone will rush down the lecture block to grab those deep fried stuffs that the canteen vendor uncle was selling. He has this cart that he pushes around. HOHO and with little exercise, my stomach grew fatter, because my uniform felt tighter and tighter....you know how the no.4 has this adjustable strap at the sides, mine kept extending lololol xD The radio lessons were really boring, and we learnt some dinosaur sets which we never touched ever again when in unit. I guess it depends which unit you go to? When i ORD-ed, the newly posted in signallers knew of sets that i have never operated before O.o oh yes and the cookhouse....every day is like fried fish day. at first you'll be like YUM YUM! try eating that consecutively for a few weeks and your delight soon changes to horror. 

For outfields, i believe we only had 3 outfields? 

1. Line exercise, which is the laying of lines (obviously)

This one has you laying configurations of lines around the place and around obstacles like over trees and under drains.

2. VHF exercise or something?

 Forgot the name, but as a platoon you set up some vehicular radio sets, then you have to direct the driver to a certain location and try comms to one another. It's really slack lah. i mean what else is there for you to do anyway?! sit there and talk on the comms. pretty simple. at least my team bonded pretty quickly with the driver and we all had fun! My antennas gave problem, tried to rectify but failed lmao. Such an instance of whatever comms problems is common for my unit life experience later on, and i really had to learn and all on how to rectify all sorts of problems :)

3. Exercise tenacity. i believe that is what it's called..

The most important exercise of them all, testing the skills of everything, from comms to setting up of SQT mass, vehicular set ups, you got to know all these. Also, this is when you form groups together. In my case, we chose one another, so its very important to have good relations! my group basically had all the pro and familiar people together as we were gunning for fastest timings. preparation also all done beforehand :P haha but we didnt get first place so oh well! still had grrrrreat bonding with my friends! 

In Signals, i had lots of fun, made new friends and i that's how i knew wai choong and company who were from the air force! luckily, i somehow got posted to 3DA instead! You will receive your posting some time around the last week and if you're from unit, your posting will be back to your original unit. when i opened the letter, boy was i shocked! at first i saw the 3 in front and was thinking "right what kinda miracle was i expecting" thinking that i was returning to 30SCE, dreaded camp, but at least i am a signaller, they cant really touch me. but as i read on, it read 3DA! so that's how i spent the remaining time of my national service, in 3DA. This is also where me and hernando parted ways, as he received his posting back to 30SCE instead, although he was back to the welcoming arms of Cpt Adam thankfully! If by any chance hernando is reading this, i wanna say a big thank you for tanking all those office work together! those times especially during audit period, like office outfield, but it was so good getting to know ya! Thanks man :)