OfficershipToday I will comission as an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces. Today I will have duties and responsibilities entrusted to me from the President himself. Today will herald a new beginning in my life within the SAF. From today on, things will change.
Having attended the workshop held for young officers, I came to realise the role of officers in the SAF much better. It is in no way small or simple. An officer is a leader of men, one who makes decisions that can change things. As I look around the many peers around me, the other 222 officers-to-be who will commission alongside me today, I think about how many of us will succeed, leading men years older than us. Will they ever respect a young, wet behind the years junior officer? Someone they have not met? And the senior officers too, will they respect us?
Respect is earned, not just by having that one bar up there on our shoulders. Not the fact that we are better than everyone else, so we will like to believe. No. We may not be better soldiers at all. But the difference lies within our abilities to hopefully be able to asses situations and make decisions fast. The right decisions mind you. Nonetheless the one below us definately have more experience than us, perhaps even more proficient in their specialised vocations. We can never forget that fact and think ourselves as supermen, the ultimate narrow-mindedness that could creep into us being officers.
Sometimes, I get a little disappointed as I see officers that are incompetant. I know they are definately fallible, but the decisions they make and the somewhat heck-care attitude they display to really put some effort in their jobs. I sure hope that will not happen to me.
The SAF is definately not a Serve And @#$% off thing, whether it is for me, the NSFs or Regulars. It is a lifetime commitment to the officer corps. I hope we do not ever forget that, and treat the SAF as just an obstacle to our lives.
Today I will comission as an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces. From today on, things will change.
