My Experiences in OCS

Preamble

This post is one that is dedicated to give you guys and girls a very basic idea of what the Officer Cadet School (OCS) of Singapore is like. Hopefully, it can serve as a guide for those fortunate or unfortunate ones who are going to end up there and allow you to know what to expect. To the parents or loved ones of the cadets from OCS, I hope this post can help you better understand what your son, daughter or other half is going through in camp.

Before I begin, I would like to say that this post does not aim to provide every single detail about OCS as one simply cannot condense and put into words what every cadet goes through in 9 months. Moreover, the experience is different for everyone due to different wing cultures, vocations and personalities. I hope you will understand and I will try my very best to give you an accurate idea of what OCS is like.

Introduction to OCS

Firstly, OCS is located at SAFTI Military Institute, 500 Upper Jurong Road, Singapore 638364. It is near Singapore Discover Centre and the nearest MRT station is Joo Koon. Most cadets get here via car or taxi instead of bus or MRT because it requires a long walk in from the nearest bus or MRT station. However, transport is never really a cause for concern because you can always find friends who are willing to share a cab or car pool with you if your parents are unable to give you a lift.

All cadets will reside and train at SAFTI for the first 2 phases of their OCS journey (CLM and Service Term) before moving to different camps and bases if they get allocated to vocations other than infantry. All the cadets will return back to SAFTI for Joint term after Professional term.

The camp is a nice place with a very pleasant environment. You will definitely feel more exclusive and better treated as compared to BMT. The food that they serve in SAFTI is better and the accommodation is cozier. The camp follows a 2 person to 1 bunk system as compared to the communal living style in Tekong.

OCS is a tri-service training school and hence includes Air force, Navy and the Infantry. However, the infantry force also breaks up into artillery, armor, logistics, combat engineers, infantry and signals. For those entering via the BMT August and February batches, you will get a chance to go to any of the above vocations with the exception of artillery. For the BMT May and November batches, you will only get to go to either infantry or artillery. Air force is open to every batch. Navy is only open to regulars but there are rare exceptions of NSFs who get to be Naval officers.

Within OCS, there are 12 wings. The wings have different cultures and they have different learning outcomes and values that they want their cadets to have, which could sometimes mean varying standards. There will be some wings with “better” book out timings, more welfare and even nights out while other wings can be very regimental and disciplined. Nonetheless, all 12 wings want to train the best officers for the country and there is no “shiong” or “lepak” wing. Some wings focus on the stick while others prefer to focus on the carrot.

Introduction to the Wings:

Alpha          (BMT August batch)

Bravo          (BMT August batch)

Charlie        (BMT November batch)

Delta           (BMT February batch)

Echo           (BMT May batch)

Foxtrot        (BMT February batch)

Golf             (BMT May batch)

Hotel           (BMT November batch)

Sierra          (Service term wings)

Tango          (Service term wings)

Air Wing       (Air Force Wing)

Midshipmen (Navy Wing)

In OCS, cadets have a different set of physical training attire as compared to BMT. The PT kit is called red-red (Maroon singlet and shorts) and the admin attire is called white-white (white Polo tee with white shorts). Throughout the course, cadets will also earn their rights to wear their berets, which come in different colours for different vocations, jungle caps and some vocations will even get to sew on different skill or course badges.

In terms of standards and conduct wise, OCS is a lot more strict and regimental as compared to BMT. The punishment system in OCS involves a lot of admonishment, intense physical training and confinements, which is known as extras. Cadets can get injured easily from training and go out of course. At the end of service term and upon coming back from each overseas training trip under-performing cadets will have to go through a peer review board, to assess their performance and attitude in the course. If they are not up to standard, cadets could be placed out of course from OCS or they could have to recourse their training. The instructors and platoon commanders will assess cadets from time to time and the cadets will have to go through peer appraisals in order to grade their military performance. There are knowledge and skill tests to grade how well versed the cadets are in terms of planning, weapon systems and navigation. At the end of the 9 months, the top cadet from each vocation will win the prestigious award known as the Sword of Honour and the top 10 percent cadets will win the Sword of Merit.

Training in OCS follows 4 different phases:

Common Leadership Module (CLM) – This phase is when you will don your first white bar and get introduced to the dos and don’ts of OCS. This phase is only a short 2 weeks (inclusive of 1 confinement weekend) and you will feel either really miserable or happy. For those that feel miserable, this is because you are having adjustment issues to OCS and maybe you have not warmed up to your new platoon and section mates. However, it will get better. You will do a lot during CLM and it would be a mad rush translating to little admin time. Some of the activities include, orientation run, tower run, IPPT, 3km marches, platform jump, chemical defense, a lot of lectures, army recruitment talks, family day and it will end off with a turn-out by your seniors.

Service Term – After getting turned out by your seniors and having a nice short parade, you will get your second white bar and transit into service term. During Service term, you will be introduced to the cadet governance system, which is basically a set of appointments that will be given to a few cadets in cycles of 3-4 weeks. These appointments include Cadet Wing Commander (CWC), Cadet Wing 2IC (CW2), Cadet Wing Sergeant Major (CWSM), Learning and Physical Training IC. The CWC is in charge of running the daily activities that the instructors plan for and he ensures that all strength is accounted for and that the timings are met. The CW2 assists the CWC and might be in charge of admin stuff like the armskote. The CWSM is in charge of the wing’s welfare and has to take care of area cleaning, store items, force preparation and duty rosters. These appointment holders will be assessed throughout their term. They will learn to work with one another and the instructors to facilitate the running of the training program. Having said all these, the appointment holders will not have a lot of autonomy or flexibility during service term as everyone is still adapting to life in OCS and learning how to be officers. The instructors will only hand over more “power” to the cadet governance system during professional term or when they see that the cadets are prepared to bear more responsibility.

Service Term is the phase for learning and building yourself up physically and mentally to be an officer. You will spend the first few weeks getting used to the different weapon systems, learning the ropes to navigation, going through physical training and section level operational staff work. You will also learn to lead your section in camp and outfield. The key highlights for service term are live firings with demolitions, navigational exercises, Exercise Centipede, Exercise Scorpion King and 24km route march. Exercise Centipede is 9 days of outfield training in Tekong where you will be doing a 1-day and night navigational exercise and spend the rest of your time there learning how to conduct fire movement in a section. Exercise Scorpion King is a deliberate defense exercise where you will basically have very little sleep and be digging a lot. You will get very dirty for both exercises and expect a lot of “tekan”, camouflage-on, heat rash, abrasions, etc. However, you will really bond with your section during this period. You will feel yourself getting physically and mentally stronger during the end of service term. Service term also includes Social Night, which is basically a military style prom. You will all get to wear your Number 2 and look glamorous for the night. The last activity for service term is the 24km route march over night, which is pretty tiring, but the worse part of the march is the end, when everyone’s postings are released. There will be people getting posted out to different vocations and it would be a sad occasion as you might have to see good friends that you have made over the 9 weeks leaving to their respective camps for the next 21 weeks.

Professional Term (Infantry) – the main difference during pro term (three white bars) for the infantry cadets is that the tempo and intensity is a lot higher. You will be physically and mentally stretched to your limits. For instance, a week could include back-to-back 10km endurance run, navigational exercise, Standard Obstacle Course test, IPPT and live firing. There could be very little time to recover for the next activity. The focus for professional term is to also train the cadets to be platoon commanders, as such, there will be a greater emphasis placed on platoon operational staff work and platoon fighting. The infanteers will get to go to Brunei and Taiwan or Thailand for their infantry training. These are life-changing trips and they are the highlight of professional term for the cadets in infantry. In Brunei, the cadets will have to overcome harsh jungle terrain and unforgiving weather. They will also have to go through Jungle Confidence Course, a 9 days course in the jungle with only 1.5 days worth of food. They will have to navigate their way up and down 2 steep mountains and learn to survive in the jungle with rudimentary tools. There are many exercises during professional term for the cadets in infantry. They include: Ex Wolf, Ex Rhino, CSB, Ex Castaway, Ex Gateway, Platoon Battle Course, Ex Seeker, Ex Wildcat, Ex Lancer, JCC, Ex Dump-In, Ex Starlight, Ex Coyote 2, Ex Panther, Coastal Hook operations, Helicopter Operations, internship, ATP, PAC and Iron Gryphon (with many exercises within exercises). Physical training and tests will continue to fill up the schedule during professional term.

By this time, the CGS will have more autonomy over certain stuff such as training schedule and how activities are conducted. However, with great power comes great responsibility and the appointment holders will definitely feel more stressed if the standards are not met. The instructors will definitely come down hard on the cadets if standards slip during professional term.

Joint Term – Everyone comes back to SAFTI to march around and do A LOT of drills in noisy marching boots. There will be ACPC, where you get to wear your number 2 again and get your sword. You will also go for lectures about leadership and talks by army recruitment centre. By this time, you will feel like cadet life is drawing to a close but you will also feel listless due to the drills and rehearsals. The only real joy comes on the day when you throw your peak cap and get your rank changed on the parade square by your parents.

Final Reflections

No matter what vocation you go to or what wing you go to, OCS is definitely going to be tough and challenging. You are definitely going to suffer sleepless nights and physically exhausting moments but it is going to be fulfilling. You are going to learn a lot about yourself and mature as a person. Remember, getting into OCS is not the difficult part, the difficult part is commissioning as a good officer. Whatever you do, do your best and always help others. Put others in front of yourself. Do not take criticism personally and learn from your mistakes. Remember someone saw something in you once and that’s why you got into OCS. It is not a mistake as long as you learn from it. Throughout the 9 months, learn to cherish your love ones and make the most out of the short short time you have with them. Everything will be worth it when you see them on the parade square with you on the day you commission. With that, I wish you all the best in whatever you do and wherever you go.

To Lead, To Excel, To Overcome!