Sunday, November 02, 2008
blog
Usually, at this time of Officer Cadet Course (OCC), cadets will look back fondly on their training and be excited about the upcoming commissioning. After all, it's the culmination of numerous months of strenuous training and chiongsua. The parade is the ultimate sweetener and cadets will look forward to standing on the parade square with their heads held up high and feeling nothing but pure pride and bliss.
Not me.
This issue has always been nagging at the back of my head and reared its head when one of my course mate said he wanted to ask for early release. The reason? He doesn't feel any pride being commissioned as an Air Force officer. He felt that we did not go through the tough training that warrants one being commission as an officer. In short, he doesn't feel deserving of the rank.
It's true. Our OCC can really be considered the easiest to go through. After all, no outfield, no chiongsua, little PT. Just that constant emphasis on vocational skills. His words does have its truth. There's scant comfort and pride felt when commissioning arrives. I don't even look forward to it eagerly. Rather, it just happens to be another phase of my training for more vocational upgrades await me after training.
This brings back to the fundamental question, are we deserving of the commission? Part of me wants to say no. After all, did we go through the tough training other cadets gone through? Definitely not. On the other hand, is chiongsua and infantry training essential to our service? Hardly not. Perhaps, maybe it's because the nature of my vocation doesn't require the infantry training which infantry goes through.
Maybe, at the end, it's about whether you have successfully completed the training required of your vocation. Toughness of training is just a source of pride that you might use to cite in the future.
Right now, the most important thing is to feel proud that I finished whatever that is required of me. The toughness can be left for future debate.
Sometimes, it's really useless debating about these things when in the future, it might become no more than a figment of my memory.
shermon blogged @ 4:47 pm
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