Taken from one of my archives: Reflections from week 7 of EOAC. EOAC is the Engineer Officer Advanced Course, where we are prepared for higher level positions during our reservist days. I think EOAC has played a huge part in my motivation for learning, and in Uchicago, some of the motivation is lost. Perhaps it is time to find out what really motivates me to learn, to find out more about myself, and to conduct myself in a social way, without sacrificing moral dignity and integrity.
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REFLECTIONS WEEK 7
This week is the last week of EOAC. Having gone through 4 exercises and currently undergoing the 5th and final exercise, I have decided to reflect on what has happened these 7 weeks. I regularly jot down notes on my PDA, reflecting on them afterwards and providing a good source for the weekly reflections. So here, I present my points of reflection and of learning for the entire EOAC.
1. Learning has taken place when we are given time and space to absorb and reflect.
This point is actually taken from CPT Tan Han Siang (39 S2) on the illumination board. Often during the course, we are bombarded with information and regularly are expected to cough up detailed information at crucial moments (e.g. number of doctors in BCS, size of BSA etc.) Also, given the fast paced nature of the course, we are given very little time to absorb and “feed-forward” what we have learnt from the previous exercise. Given more time and space, I feel that we would be able to give a better account of ourselves during the exercises.
2. Presentation skills are critical to projecting your knowledge.
We may know and understand our plans entirely; however most of us are unable to present our knowledge well. The outcome of this is that we may know and understand, but we may not SEEM that we understand. This is congruent with my point at the beginning of the course, where I stated that knowledge is giving the instructors what they want to hear. I still stand by my statement, for the basic mission of an instructor is to make the trainee understand. We are better off regurgitating answers we already know then to go through the process of finding the answers ourselves. In short – reverse engineering would be beneficial if the answer to the question is undisputable, as are most answers in EOAC.
3. Give information as and when required to SPECIFIC audience.
There is a crucial difference between presenting to instructors, presenting to peers and commanding and ordering our soldiers. We are expected to present model answers during our presentations to our instructors, however, we must realize in a real situation, the best we can do is only to give the best plan we can come up with during a limited time frame. No matter how hard we try, we can never come up with the perfect plan for the instructors – there will always be holes in our plans, no matter how miniscule. After all, the basic job of the instructor is to play devil’s advocate to the trainees. In the name of improvement, this has to be done, but balance must be struck in combusting a plan and praising the good aspects. A plan can be 80% solid, but too much focus on the 20% not-as-good aspects can really dampen a student’s morale.
4. Visualize and have a clear picture prior to giving a presentation.
This has to do with presentation skills and understanding of your own plan. Many times in the course, the plan is an amalgam of different people’s ideas and thinking. There is a huge challenge in understanding the different points of views and presenting all of it as your own plan. I find that holding an OC appointment in exercises is more of a team leader in directing everyone to collate information and ultimately to formulate your own ideas around the framework provided.
5. Process VS Product. Learning Journey VS Outcome
There is often a struggle between wanting to achieve the outcome quickly (the product) and going through the steps in sequence (the process). I tend to be impatient and go for the product as fast I can. Often I would miss out certain information, but mostly I am able to reverse engineer the process (rationalize the plan). The drawback to this is that many of my peers discount this as cheating. My response is that the end state is more important than the process; the end is more important than the means. I firmly believe in results, and the process to obtain the result can be placed at a lesser priority.
A point: I still firmly believe in the ends. However, not all ends justify the means; no amount of evil will make the end a "good".
6. EOAC has many different personalities, and every one has gained maturity and experience since OCC, allowing greater appreciation of the course.
The diversity of the trainees is greatly reduced in 53 EOAC, being an all NSFs course. Plus points include being totally engrossed in the work (due to fewer influences and also understanding each other very well since our cadet days together. There is a bond in the course forged since 03/03 EOCC. Antics happen everyday, and the atmosphere is very relaxed since no one really needs the top trainee to further their career. The drawbacks include not having the diversity and experience in the course, as CO 30 puts it “The blind leading the blind.” This has placed more emphasis on the instructors to teach many basic issues and knowledge to us. Kudos goes to the instructors for doing that well.
I also feel that with new maturity gained from 1 year of ground experience, everyone is subtly different since OCC days. There is a greater appreciation of NS and the national service requirements. The greater hope is for the infusion of this spirit into our men during our tours in ICT.
7. Instructors should not impose their system of beliefs or mnemonics on us; rather help us develop our own competencies and principles.
This point came about as I felt the instructors are trying too hard to impose their own tools and thinking methods onto us. Among the 4 instructors, there is disagreement and different schools of thoughts. Everyone should recognize that we all have our own beliefs and our own methods of thinking. The thinking tools and “fishing rods” are a good exposure, but we all should be given the chance to formulate our own mental maps and choose which tools we want to utilize. There is no point in forcing everyone to utilize MTEOT, OAKOC, MAP, ASK etc etc. These are useful tools, but everyone has their own mnemonics, their own systems and their own choices. Having our own choice to make is what makes us inherently human. Ultimately, S3 35 said it best; to take away what we understand from the course, and leave the rest behind. Everyone has different points of views on situations, and as I like to say, we can only “Agree to disagree” on many issues in life. There is no black and white, only shades of grey in everything we do.
Finally, I would like to sum up the course with quotes over the 7 week period. Here they are, from the gems to the profound, from the inane to the explicit. For your enjoyment, please.
“I agree with both of the first three people…” –Yongtong
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be” –Douglas Adams
“Wise men thinking alike, fools seldom differ” –Proverb
“Live life as though everyday is your last day…” – CO SOCE
“As a military officer, your actions in the field will show your guiding principles…” – CO SOCE
“We tend to perceive what we expect to perceive” –Int. Analysis by Hanting
“Put your plan into writing; prevents mistakes from falling through the cracks” –MAJ Michael
“When you see what you think, you know what you lack. Externalize your thoughts.” –Mr. Soh
“A good leader inspires his men to have confidence in him. A great leader inspires his men to have confidence in themselves.” –MAJ Low
“I wanted to be somebody, I should have been more specific” –NOBODY
“Your motivation for planning should be the lives of your men…” –MAJ Chang
51/03 OCC
03/03 EOCC
01/04 CBRDCC
53rd EOAC
2LT LEE LIP JIN
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And so... A chapter closes in my life. Till 2009 for my first ICT! 39 SCE!!!!! Chiong Sua in Gas Mask. Pride.
lip
ranting
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