With Singapore adopting safety practices in light of COVID-19, measures have been adopted at Basic Military Training Centre School V (BMTC Sch V) during the enlistment process to ensure the safety of our enlistees.

First off, parents will no longer go through the enlistment process with you (enlistee). While this may be disappointing, rest assured that all this is necessary to ensure safety for all enlistees. Instead, your parents can drop you off at Kranji Camp III, where you will have your temperature taken and re-directed to your first safety briefing. At this point, those not feeling well will be sent back to see a doctor. 

Enlistee having his temperature screened. 

Enlistees going through their safety briefing.

I bet you may be wondering - what's next? Well, this is where it starts to get exciting as you will be swapping your pink identity card out for your green 11B. 

Here's a small fun fact for you guys! Do you know that 11B actually stands for 11 Basic information? 

Enlistee handing over his identity card in exchange for 11B.

You will also get coloured wrist bands depending on your medical excuses and PES statuses. Some common coloured bands are:

• White for food allergy,
• Yellow for excuse running, marching and jumping,
• Blue for those with asthmatic conditions.

Enlistee getting his coloured band.

After receiving your 11B, you must be feeling excited, thinking that you are a real soldier now! Well, not quite yet! You will need to take the Oath of Allegiance to promise that you will defend Singapore "with our lives!" first. Your Commanding Officer will lead you in the oath taking and it will be recorded so that you can show it to your parents during admin time. 

LTC Teo Chun Jin, Commanding Officer, BMTC SCH V, leading the Oath of Allegiance.

Every good soldier is not complete without their gear. After taking the oath, a bus will ferry you to your bunks to collect your equipment. Depending on your PES status, you may be issued the following items (list is not exhaustive): 

• Black Duffel Bag, 
• Field Pack which contains your admin bag,
• Boots, and 
• Sport shoes (either Adidas or New Balance).

Enlistees collecting their gear.

Tidying up and storing away their stuff in their bunks.

Finally, after going through the whole process, it's meal time at the cookhouse! This is the time you get to make friends with your fellow soldiers or get to know your buddies better. 

And... we are letting you in on another fun fact! Every Wednesday is Western Wednesday at the cookhouse! This means you may be able to receive an ice cream treat during your lunch!

Enjoying their lunch together!

And... that's all folks! Hopefully, this has helped you understand more about the enlistment process in BMTC Sch V. We hope you have a great start to your BMT as you embark on your National Service journey. 

Written by: PTE Stanley Ong (Army News)
Photography by: LCP Nicholas Chow (Army News)