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I learnt that not everything in our plan goes according to plan. Despite spending a lot of time for planning, essentially on the ground it was different, in terms of the terrain because the map did not give me enough information. I also learnt the importance of TTP. Everyone has to know it well for a smooth operation.

I would have had everyone brush up our TTP before commencing our operations.

I believe I played my part in being a pioneer and clearing obstacles. I also knew more as a PPC and could share my knowledge as a pioneer. As for improvement, my TTP! It was terrible and I could have brushed it up beforehand (as a pioneer). As a PPC, I could have presented better, in a sense that I fumbled during my final AOP, messing up and missing out the simplest of details. I should have done a more thorough rehearsal.

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One thing i learnt from ex backhoe is that communication between appointment holders is key in mission success. Most of the mistakes we made that cost us was due to the lack of communication between the PCs, PS and sect comms.

For ex backhoe, I was a pioneer, and one thing I felt like i did well was doing my tasks as assigned, without questioning the appointment holders. Even though sometimes I had differing opinions from them, I just did as planned by the PC, because as a PC, I would want my men to do the same.

However, I felt like I could have been more aware of my surroundings sometimes as this is a mission context and we had to be wary of enemy, but a lot of times me and my peers were not very tactical in terms of movement and discipline.

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One thing i learned from Ex Backhoe was that it is very important to get the small detials right during planning. Small details such as the order in which everyone will get down the tonner and who will take what item really determines how smooth the mission goes. As a pc who plans, maybe its not necessary to include such details in the aop or ops order, but it is very important to talk about it during the rehearsals.
One thing i did well was to follow instructions given by my section commanders and pc. As a man, i was required to carry out the things i was instructed without questioning, and i did that so that the mission is more smooth (goes according to what my pc had envisioned)

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One thing I learnt from backhoe is that I shouldn't be calculative and selfish. When it comes to a mission the objective is to finish it. Not be petty about who did what and who is supposed to do what. When called upon you just do. Also I learnt that I should question my PC action less and listen to him more. One good thing I did was that whenever I'm called upon I will willingly do it. However one thing I can learn is to stop questioning so much and do more doing.

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One thing I learnt is the importance of staying focused and pulling your own weight for the team, even when tired. Backhoe was probably the most tiring outfield in terms of lack of sleep. Yet I must not let this affect the standards I show in terms of SOFUN and TTPs. I must make sure I am not a burden to the team.

I believe what I did well was being very task-oriented and staying calm throughout the exercise. However, one area for improvement is to be in a better mood and try to lift the spirits of my section mates instead of feeling so sian all the time, as this will affect my section's morale

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One thing I learned in ex backhoe is the importance of ensuring stores before the commencement of ops. As said in the PAR plt 1 was missing our wire cutters and after that we realised that didn’t even bring it out. As such we had to borrow from plt 2 and caused a lot of stress to our pc and caused us to waste a lot of valuable time that could be used to clear the obstacle itself

I think not necessarily do differently but implement. I think if I were to be a section commander again, fingers crossed, I would wan to come up with my own store list of not everything we need but those of top priority. Or can implement double checks that do not include that of initial and final inspection. This check is to check all the stores not only those of utmost priority.

I think one thing I did well in ex backhoe is the coordination of the section. During the operation itself, apart from the few cock ups and a few anomalies. I think the plt overall was cooperative and that made it easier to manage and assign people to the needed areas.

One area of improvement is that maybe I could have been more involved and active. Cause I was caught resting and sleeping at the troop rest area when the other section commander was taking over from me when I should have instead been more active in the section’s affairs

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After experiencing Ex Backhoe, I learnt that oftentimes, things may not go as planned, which is why we have to be flexible and think quickly on the spot as we proceed with our mission. For Ex Crescendo, I will try to come up with more contingency plans in case there is a problem with my initial one, so that I can save time during the mission desperately trying to look for one.

One thing I did well in Ex Backhoe was that I made sure that the people around me are still feeling fine to carry on with the mission and helped them out whenever possible, but what I needed to do better was to have a greater sense of urgency when carrying out the tasks.

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I was a section 2IC for EX backhoe. I realised that for this exercise, I was doing too much pioneer work, going into the obstacle itself to prod/ clear the ATD etc. the sergeant on site pointed out to me that since I also had comms (the 650) with me, I should be more involved with the roles of a sect com, such as supervising the clearing of obstacle. I got myself involved with clearing of obstacles since I wanted to let the other “pioneers” rest. However I also realise by helping more with the supervision of clearing the obstacle, I would also be able to let my section commander rest momentarily, which would enable him to control his men better. As such I would get involved with supervising the field more rather than getting more hands on with the obstacle.

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after backhoe, i realized i need to improve on my field discipline. i also realized how overly stupid Standardization is, at least in EOCC. cadets made tactically unwise decisions across the entire wing which caused various stupid problems. standardization to make an SOP box to start off, which is used to put our mission essential items in, slowing down Obs clearing progress. Next, placing mine prodder on grenade pouch clip, which makes mobility horrendous bc it keeps hitting our legs when we move, and it easily drops off as proven multiple times and even causes the mine prodder extension to unscrew by itself after continuous contact with our legs. when i’m pc in the future, i’ll make sure to not make these senseless mistakes for my men, bc these kind of things do not translate to field discipline and competencies which i believe is the most impt in being a good soldier.

one good thing i did was i did my job as the runner proficiently. one thing i lacked in was my field discipline.

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After experiencing Ex. Backhoe as a Ex. PS, I have grew more confident in being a vehicle commander and using hand signals to guide vehicles. I also learnt the procedures of force prep and initial inspection in combat engineers where there are a lot of stores required for exercises. I made a mistake of missing out some stores in the force prep leading to complications during the exercise as a result of my complacency and my unfamiliarity with the stores. For Ex. Crescendo, it would be helpful to familiarise myself with the stores and always check carefully as one can never be too sure.

1 thing I did well is in the setting up of EEPs and guiding of vehicles as well as acting as a relayer between the conducting officer and the runner. 1 thing I can improve on is to be less complacent when doing stores.

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From going through Ex Backhoe, I have learnt that clearing obstacles is not an easy task and also that things do not always go to plan no matter how much time is put into planning it. It is important for us to learn how to be flexible and adapt to changing situations out in the field.

I would spend more time thinking of alternatives and contingency plans so as to consider more possible situations so that we are well prepared for missions.

I did well when i tried ti take charge in the prepping of equipment so that things can go smoother and we can finish up the prep faster.

One area i can improve on is pushing both myself and others on when i’m tired and shagged. It’s important to do so because in the future, my men will be looking up to me and i have to be the one motivating both myself and others.