The ambiguous callup

(Addendum: I decided to write down a specific action that the army clerk did. Scroll down below to read.)

Army training disrupts our civilian life, its a fact of life.
But to have silly disruptions because of unclear instructions, thats damn annoying.
I was recently called up for "IPPT Briefing", only to waste a whole afternoon driving to and back from my camp...
and u know how ulu most reservist camps are....

And its back to green.

Dear Army,

Yes, I know that you are involved in the highly revolutionary "paperless" system, so you no longer send out call-ups via letters. But a single SMS for me to remember a callup months ahead? I'm so glad of your immense trust in my memory.
Perhaps you can send a 2nd sms reminder when the date is near?

And you call me up, as noted, for an "IPPT Briefing".
There is nowhere on that electronic call-up that requested me to be ready for an IPPT test!
Hello? IPPT Briefing is very different from an IPPT test.
You know how stupid I feel when I turn up in camouflage uniform, only to find most of the people there dressed in PE attires.

and yes, I wasted an hour driving to and fro, because of your unclear instructions.

And please do let the guards know that you are making such a mistake in the future, because the poor guard has no idea what is an IPPT Briefing, and directed me to park my vehicle and sign in, only to be told by another person to drive ahead and park at the Parade Square.

I forgot to mention that my car is a Mitshibitsu Lancer, NOT an armoured vehicle. I have no idea how to park at the Parade Square when its surrounded by concertina wires. hey, even a tank's track can be damaged if it rushes into concertina barricade. To fulfil my role as an operational ready NSman, I promise I will include a wire-cutter set and gloves in my combat pack in the near future.

And if its not too troublesome, can u lower the humps on the roads in your camp!! for god's sake, not all civilian cars are as high as your army vehicles! but I am definitely not the first civilian car to scrap the hump, judging by the numerous deep cuts in the humps.

And I hate army clerks. You are already exempted from combat roles, do you mind respecting yourself and handle us with efficiency and proper service?
[Addendum] Yes, I know my NRIC card is "spoilt", the cracks are pretty obvious to any one, but thanks anyway for your value-added service in pointing that out. But I really think that you don't have to bend and flex my already-damaged NRIC in front of me to prove the point. And you have to state accurately that you hv nothing to do with the damage, WHILE flexing the card around. Don't worry, I am sure you have absolutely nothing to do with my cracked broken card.

So I spent a precious afternoon from work, and achieved nothing. Now I have to prepare for another IPPT "briefing" on my own, at another camp.

Yours readily,
man-in-green
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I've decided to train hard for my coming IPPT. Maybe I should start with some weight lifting and short-distance running.


Preparing for the next IPPT