Has anyone here ever gone through National Service?

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Okay so here's the deal. The Ministry of Defense in my country Singapore (there it's called MINDEF for short) has informed me just a few months ago that probably by December 2009 I have serve 2 years of National Service (NS). Luckily for me I only get to do clerical work (stock, desk-job, etc.) and that I don't have to do In-camp Training (that means NO sit-ups, push-ups, running, swimming, climbing, etc.), So basically I get to go home everyday after "work" there. In case you don't know here I'm gonna work at, I'll be serving my NS in the Singapore Civil Defense Force (the Civil Defense Force here in Singapore) (SCDF). If you don't know what a Civil Defense Force is, a Civil Defense Force is basically Fire-fighting, Paramedic, Rescue work, etc.. But I'm really very nervous about it as I've heard bad and scary stories about NS all over the world. So my question is has any one of you have every gone through NS and does anyone here have any advice for me on coping with NS?

Well, we don't have an exact equivalence in Canada but I am a member of our Armed Forced (Army) and have been for seven years and although AS has been problematic at times, overall, it has made me a very efficient worker.

I have no doubts that you could perform very well as long as the social environment isn't too demanding (you have your space, for instance) and that you do something that can keep your attention, keep you busy.

Good luck!

I don't think it'll be too bad, but you might not want to get attached to anything work related. I don't mean to scare you, but not going through any kind of boot camp gives you a stigma to overcome. When I was in, people were always comparing eachother either directly or indirectly. I remember some dental assistant talking smack because he went through a rougher basic training. You might do a really good job, but some guy might decide that since you didn't have any basic training, that he can walk all over you.

In my experience, ass kissers do just as well as anyone else in places like this. I had a deployment under my belt but I still didn't make sergeant. Why? Because I didn't see the need to kiss some ass. Personally, there's nothing wrong with doing some push-ups and sit-ups, but unless I see an NCO walking on water, I don't see any need to make them feel good about themselves. Just don't make the cardinal mistake and disobey. You'll find out what you can do to preserve your sanity, but if you disobey one order, you'll hate the army even more, I've seen it happen.

Can anyone please reply?

Can anyone please reply?

That sounds terrible...

Is there no alternative or way of getting out of it?

i know what you mean, I was able to do pushups, but I couldn't run and the lack of sleep was just killing me. I barely passed the run, during basic. If you want to practice a little, you can go on long walks and do interval running, that helps your run a lot and it's not as hard as straight running.

We had a trainee who was scared of heights, the drill sergeant just forced them to go over the obstacle. There are lots of people with a fear of heights. My question is what they do about corporal punishment. In this army, it's unlawful to hit subordinates. I've had people hit me, but it's so illegal that they could lose rank or go to prison, we take that stuff seriously now.

How do they do it in Singapore?

Can anyone please reply?

You say it will be two years?

What if you were on disability or something?

I don't think you'll go crazy btw, you just need to keep yourself in emotional check.

BTW, what scary stories are you talking about....stuff you've heard?

When I was with my platoon in Rawah, I was easily the least liked guy. I spent all my free time studying and I was a medic to boot. Then a new guy came along, he was way worse, he couldn't do his job at all. I suddenly went up in social status because I looked good next to this guy.

What this means for you is that as long as you attempt to do your assigned work, some guy will do his part and make you look good.

My way of dealing with NTs was by avoiding them or tuning them out. The only problem is that they find a way to get into your head if they really want to. NTs know a guy who doesn't want to be there when they see one, you can't hide that. If you demonstrate that you'll do your part, then they'll know you're a decent soldier. If they notice that you aren't as easy to be around when they play their NT head games on you, then they should be able to put two and two together. Then again, they might try to ride you even harder, NTs aren't an exact science.

If life gives you lemons, time to make some lemonade!

We have no compulsory national service system in the US, but if you're forced to do that in Singapore (as is also common in many European countries), then the best you can do is treat it as a learning experience and try to milk it for everything it has. Unfortunately, going in with a mindset of "the best thing that can happen to my national service experience is that it will end" won't make it end any sooner.