Vincent88 wrote:
Polytechnic student over here. Physically wise i think i would be able to catch up with most of the people as joined quite alot of sport such as dragonboat last time.
But for the OCS is only to infrantry unit that what i heard from my friend who is an officer in NS now.
hmm.. quite curious about this.. what's security clearance? and how do we become singaporean? after serving NS then declare interest? or b4 serving NS we will have to declare out interest?
Sort of have high ambition and wish to achieve good result during my NS.. been hoping to get into commando if possible or at least aim for a OCS.
the decision on who gets to go to commando/naval diving unit are made before you even start BMT (you report directly to their units), so it's best to work on your NAPFA test. it helps if you don't wear glasses and swim marvelously.
although OCS churns out many infantry officers, it's not the only soldier they train. a cadet may even be posted to other services! head on over to the SAFTI website and they will have information on the course.
infantry cadets are based at OCS during their entire course, while other cadets (armor, artillery, logistics, signal, blah) move away from OCS to their units for specialized training mid-way in the course.
although some friends you make at the start of the course will be posted away, everyone comes back to OCS again towards the conclusion of the officer cadet course... ahhh, good times.
you may state your intent to become an officer or specialist (sergeants) during interviews with your platoon commander during BMT.
if you have a preference for a particular area of interest (eg, you graduated with an aerospace diploma and you'd like to be in the air force) you should also mention this.
IMO infantry officers are the most flexible when it comes to the range of postings. i was commissioned an infantry officer, sent to intelligence school and finally ended up in a non-combat position!
if you make it to SISPEC, there're still opportunities to enter OCS at a later time as long as you perform well (many people drop out of OCS for a whole range of reasons).
i haven't much to say about security clearance nor becoming a singaporean; i'm sure you'll find out more (where applicable) when the time comes.
it's good to have such a mindset before you go in. make sure you head on in with an open mind and make plenty of friends.
among them are the few that you'll remember for life. good bastards, they are.