Gunner Log-part 1

India: Gunner Log
The Quest For Agni Warrior

Day 1, friday 26th Oct
2300 Mumbai time.

4 hours of flying plus 7 hours of coach ride later, we arrived at the Gonzalez complex in Devlali. This place reminds me of a really old and run down chalet. Generic long houses surrounding a central "courtyard".

We were briefed that during the last frame, there had been accidents, for example, a guy stepping to a puddle in the toilet, slipped and fell, dislocated his shoulder.LOL. So cock. Bunk's better than what i expected, bedsheets and pillowcases all flowery and homely.

Haven't really kicked in yet, the fact that im India with the SAF. We'll see how this goes.






Day 3 28th Oct
1200hrs

Okay, now, im sitting in a corner of the bunk after quite a nice lunch. This morning more preparation of stores, blah.... everything's so heavy.

Okay, yesterday was the more fun day. Timothy's leg got crushed by a falling round extractor, courtesy of you-know-who... tsk. Fire drill in the middle of a bridge game, haha, speaking of bridge, weijei is the reason why its so fun! Average bid was 4 no trump....

Tragedy has struck!! My camera battery has died!! and my backup battery is dying too!! i have no idea how this happened!! isn't olympus supposed to be all weather and shit?? sigh. Gotta conserve my battery for outfield shots then.

*crosses fingers*

Day 4 29th Oct
0800hrs.

Moving out day today!

Actually, as this is being writened, i am sitting in the back of my vehicle. okay, the thing that pisses me off is the not one, but both my lan jiao olympus batterises both ran out this morning!!!!! SHIT!! Now i have to convince my detachment mates to get facebook or something... this is a really bad start. I guess i'll be writing a lot more inside this book then...

Oh help. a Double whammy has struck!! i am the ammo loader for this one!! help! all this while, i've been the detachment 2ic and the chargeloader for a reason! i.e. i Cannot lift up the damn round!! sigh...... we'll see how this goes...





1600hrs

We're sitting at our 2nd deployment ground. Weather's been quite kind today, rather cloudy and windy, so not too warm.

Joseph's very sick. Diareahoaing and body aches. Everyone in the detachment started playing doctor.

Zhi ming's diagnosis
-Stomach Flu
remedy: Get intravenously dripped at the battalion casualty point.

Chang wan's diagnosis
-Pu Luat i.e. heatiness.
remedy: (classic army) drink water

Sebestian's diagnosis
-malaria
remedy: hmmmmmm....

lol, the talking about his condition is helping morale a little, as ironic as it sounds.

I myself is coming down with something. Its either too dusty here or i've caught a cold. Sniffling all the way since the first deployment. Hope all goes well..

Oh, before i forget, this deployment ground is the hardest i've ever seen! All 7 iron pickets we planted fell out at one point or another during the deployment.. this is shit. Men everywhere are falling ill. kelvin, Steven, Joseph and now me...

Our captain is jinxed. seriously.

31s Oct Day 6
time does not matter anymore.

This is interesting eh?
I'm back in bunk after a day of doing nothing in bunk.... does that make sense?? yes it does!

Got smacked by a M107 HE LOT alpha round yesterday. the 13th round to get fired actually. Chang wan prepared the round, and he left it standing on the part of the tarpaulin that had a rock jutting out from beneath. So, uneven ground+standing projectile=DANGER!

But i was busy putting on my ear mufflers, and trying to accound for all the RAI. So i did not really take the danger into consideration seriously. Plus tha fact that fire mission was ongoing, 1st round was to be loaded onto the tray already.

Before i knew it, WHAM!! and i was on the ground screaming.
Things happened really fast after that, my Gun Commander Comms-ed to CP calling for medic, taking off my boot, initial check of foot, weapon safety coming over to add a few more snide comments while i was on the ground.(talk about kicking someone when they're down)
I still remember Robin was like asking, "lianglin, still can load round or not?" what a wanker..

Evacuated To battery command post where the ambulance was parked, MO came out, sent me to DMH(Devlali millitart hospital) via the civillian SUV because my condition was not serious enough to be sent via the ambulance.... hmm.. Lord help you if you are actually sent using the ambulance. probably need an arm to get blown off or something similiar.

Upon arrival at the hospital, people recongized the uniform immediately, and i got rather preferential treatment. Skipped the Queue all the way, from A&E, to X-ray, back to A&E, to specialist, and finallly to the operating and dressing theater. I had quite a good experience and impression of the indian healthcare industry.

Interesting things i noticed while at the hospital:
1. All their doctors are at least a major or above, vast majority are LTCs.

2. Public service annoncement posters are all handdrawn. There's this particular one anti-aids poster has illustrated with the gay man in mind. 2 men hugging each other, looking endearingly onto each other's eyes. One had this aladdin moustache. Quite funny to speculate the possibilities of that in role-play. okay, now im just talking rubbish.

3.The FFIs conducted there is much like singapore: ie. all stand one line, take off shirt and pants, take height and weight and get inspected by the doctor... hmm...

4. Their Lance corporals or rather, lance naiks stay in that rank for really long. There're those men who were doing area cleaning at the hospital , and easily look to be over 35.. im considered a super high flyer then. haha!!

(the above was word for word exactly from my notebook in my 2 weeks in the shithole. Stay tuned for more.)