TANAH JAMBU, Thursday, 26 April 2019 – Yesterday marked the end of the Ex Section Battle Drill (SBD), also known as Exercise First Strike, held at Pasir Putih, for the officer cadets of Intake 18. Ex First Strike was an exercise aimed to develop the cadets’ command and leadership skills in a challenging tactical exercise and develop the cadets’ understanding of basic tactics while establishing the basis for future tactical exercises. At the same time, developing command and leadership skills as well as, a confirmatory assessment of basic military skills. The exercise went on for one night and two days. They were divided into two groups where Group A with a total of 43 OCdts, consisting of Section 1 and 2 from Platoon 1 and 2 and Section 1 from Platoon 3, was deployed on Tuesday and had their Ex First Strike the next day, while Group B, consisting of the remaining sections of 34 OCdts, finished theirs yesterday.There are six section battle drills every OCdt should know. They are preparation for battle, reaction to effective enemy fire, locating the enemy, suppressing the enemy, the attack and lastly, regrouping. Each OCdt in a section had to endure at least two enemy contacts with each contact lasting up to 15 minutes under the hot brutal sun. It was expected the entire exercise would finish in the afternoon with the first battle commencing as early as 0630 hours.
In addition, not only did it aim to expose the officer cadets to role-playing warfare experience, the most significant lesson that the cadets learnt from the exercise was that they were given the opportunity to practice their Quick Battle Orders (QBOs), strategize tactics, conduct field crafts, give commands and take control. Furthermore, having successfully finished the one-day exercise, it has taught the OCdts that, not only each and every one of them is required to be physically fit, they must also be mentally strong to push themselves through each contact. Hence, the mental and physical courage must be present in all the officer cadets.
Nevertheless, the most significant lesson that the cadets learnt from the exercise was that a leader must be mentally agile and adaptable in different situations. Being under pressure and not making the right decisions instantly can cause. Not making the right decisions while being under pressure may have its consequences, the worst being casualties.