Combat Skills Badge
Finally awarded my Combat Skills Badge more than 3 months after completing it! At least I won't feel so out of place now, with rank on my shoulders but no qualifications on my chest. Even though it is one of the easier skill badges, I think it at least shows that I can do the basics of what an infantryman is supposed to do.
Which brings me to my thought of the day:
I think that one of the intentions of the Combat Skills Badge was so that the infantry could have some 'pride'. However, I don't think that this intention was brought across properly. Walking across grassy, muddy, sandy, rocky, hilly terrain as well as doing a river crossing encompasses all the foot(non-motorised) movement that an infantryman is expected to do. The CSB differentiates the Infantry from the Armoured Infantry, which is expected to work more closely with vehicles, and is thus expected to do less foot movement. The technical handling tests and equipment handling tests shows that the Infantryman is capable of handling his weapons and equipment well, and the tests for all the organic weapons of an infantry section shows how the Infantryman is expected to be able to perform all the roles of the buddies in his section. Finally, the range after the 32km Route March shows how the Infantryman is expected to be able to fire his weapon and kill the enemy even when he is tired, wet and hungry.
The above is why I disagree that the CSB 32km should be treated as a 'Technical' exercise and should be treated as a 'Tactical' exercise. Sometimes I feel that in the drive to quantify gains and measure performance, we are missing out on the intangibles that motivate people. Like my Guards friend, Eng Soon, told me, the Guards Conversion Course is not just about learning to do the stuff that a Guardsman is expected to do, like heli-rappelling, but also about inculcating the Guards Culture into a person.
The Infantry has always been the basic arm of any army, which is why it is sometimes looked down upon. But as the war in Iraq shows, high technology can only do so much. In the end, it is boots on the ground that give a military effective control of a piece of land. And no one arm is more well situated to provide those boots on the ground than the common doughboy, the Infantry. This is how we can start to give the Infantry, the largest formation in our Army, in any army, pride.
Which brings me to my thought of the day:
I think that one of the intentions of the Combat Skills Badge was so that the infantry could have some 'pride'. However, I don't think that this intention was brought across properly. Walking across grassy, muddy, sandy, rocky, hilly terrain as well as doing a river crossing encompasses all the foot(non-motorised) movement that an infantryman is expected to do. The CSB differentiates the Infantry from the Armoured Infantry, which is expected to work more closely with vehicles, and is thus expected to do less foot movement. The technical handling tests and equipment handling tests shows that the Infantryman is capable of handling his weapons and equipment well, and the tests for all the organic weapons of an infantry section shows how the Infantryman is expected to be able to perform all the roles of the buddies in his section. Finally, the range after the 32km Route March shows how the Infantryman is expected to be able to fire his weapon and kill the enemy even when he is tired, wet and hungry.
The above is why I disagree that the CSB 32km should be treated as a 'Technical' exercise and should be treated as a 'Tactical' exercise. Sometimes I feel that in the drive to quantify gains and measure performance, we are missing out on the intangibles that motivate people. Like my Guards friend, Eng Soon, told me, the Guards Conversion Course is not just about learning to do the stuff that a Guardsman is expected to do, like heli-rappelling, but also about inculcating the Guards Culture into a person.
The Infantry has always been the basic arm of any army, which is why it is sometimes looked down upon. But as the war in Iraq shows, high technology can only do so much. In the end, it is boots on the ground that give a military effective control of a piece of land. And no one arm is more well situated to provide those boots on the ground than the common doughboy, the Infantry. This is how we can start to give the Infantry, the largest formation in our Army, in any army, pride.
posted by edwin at 7:01 pm
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