Welcome: Army

His obsession has paid off - he broke the world record for the most number of pull-ups done in one minute. He managed 44 pull-ups, two more than the previous record of 42 set by American David Bourdon, reported the Guinness World Records on its website.

When contacted, Mr Yeo, 25, told The Straits Times that he was both satisfied and relieved with his accomplishment. "It's something I've been training for," said the National University of Singapore undergraduate.

In an interview published on the Guinness World Records website, he said he set his mind on setting a world record because "I have always believed that nothing is impossible, and that one's dreams are achievable".

To prepare for the feat, he has been training four times a week - each session lasting between one and three hours - under professional guidance for over a year. He also practised self-meditation in the evenings where he envisioned himself achieving the record while reviewing the techniques of pull-ups repeatedly in his head.

But he has been training on his own for years. He said: "It is an activity that I have always enjoyed, and thus something I practise every time I visit the gym."

The practice came in handy when he was serving national service. "All males have to serve army and it was useful from a fitness perspective," he said, adding that it was also useful in helping him pass one of the more difficult stations in the national physical fitness test that he had to go through during his school days.

Fresh from setting a world record, he is already eyeing more challenges.

Said Mr Yeo, who is 1.6m tall and weighs 54kg: "Possibly involving anything to do with pull-ups and bodyweight. I am a small guy, so it is more advantageous to me to focus on anything to do with body weight."

He said setting a world record means a lot to him. "That you can achieve your dreams when you put your mind to it. That nothing is impossible. That the struggle, the sacrifice, and the failures were not only worth it, but necessary."

To break the record for most pull-ups in a minute, Mr Yeo Kim Yeong, 25, trained four times a week, up to three hours a day, even when he was not feeling well. In the future, he plans to break more pull-up records

-- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI

===.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Alpha Wars ~ Computer Game

There are a few reasons for this blog entry.

• I like this animation.

• This is an advertisement for a Computer Game.

• The Tanks remind me of National Service (NS).

• And all these reasons remind me of one person.

===.

Alpha Wars ~ Computer Game

===.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

NO More Pull-Ups

"...pull-ups ... no longer be part of the test..." says Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

Wow! I can finally, fully pass my IPPT; the Pull-Ups is the one station that I kept failing for 6 out of 7 years in the Army (3 months BMT, 3 months Provost MP Training, 6 months CCU Mindef posting, 5 years RSAF) until I personally, trained on my own during my last year in the RSAF just before I ROD (or ORD as they coll it now).

I was, what they termed then, a 'Marginal Failure' for not passing the Pull-Ups. Although I've never failed my 2.414km run, I managed my best I also achieved m

.
News Article
IPPT to be reduced to 3 stations: 2.4km run, push-ups, sit-ups
POSTED: 23 Jul 2014 12:17

UPDATED: 23 Jul 2014 23:17

URL:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/ippt-to-be-reduced-to-3/1277982.html?cid=FBSG#

Standing broad jump, pull-ups and shuttle run will no longer be part of the test, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen says.

SINGAPORE: The Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) for National Servicemen will be reduced from the current five stations to just three: A 2.4km run, sit-ups and push-ups. The aim of the changes: Getting more NSmen to keep healthy as a lifestyle, and helping them pass their test.

He did not mention when the changes will be implemented, but added that Chief of Army Perry Lim will provide more details on Thursday. Changes to the IPPT format were last made in 1982.

"This new format will make it simpler for NSmen to train for IPPT, and for more to pass. Many other militaries use 3-station tests to keep their forces fit," said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen in a Facebook post on Wednesday (July 23).

"We will also have more age bands and a new scoring system. Instead of a pass mark for each station, points will be awarded and the combined points from the 3 stations will be used. This way, soldiers can make up through more sit-ups, if they are weak in push-ups and running, or vice versa. There’s a limit to how much you can make up, but I like this counting system because it encourages NSmen to max out on each station and it plays to the individual’s strengths," he wrote on Facebook.

The overall passing mark will remain "about the same as before" for Full-Time NSmen, Regulars and Awards, while some adjustments will be made based on past data for NSmen, he said.

He added: "Even though the new IPPT is simpler to train for, it will still take effort and regular exercise to pass. And that’s the idea – keeping healthy and fit should be a lifestyle and it’s good for you. We expect more to pass the new IPPT, as a result. Look out for training apps and programmes to help you"

HOME TEAM WILL FOLLOW NEW IPPT FORMAT

The Ministry of Home Affairs added in a statement that the new IPPT format will apply to Home Team National Servicemen - which includes those from the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Singapore Police Force - from next year.

“Physical Fitness is a requisite for Home Team frontline officers. National Servicemen are an integral part of the Home Team. The Home Team has been working with MINDEF/SAF on the proposed changes to the Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) and will also be implementing the new IPPT format for Home Team National Servicemen in 2015," the ministry said.

- CNA/es
.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

===.
Height Phobia (Fear of Falling)

A friend of mine posted this. This brings back memories for me.

Image 1 ~ scroll down for a larger view.

This activity has many names. I first knew it as 'Omega Slide' but it is also commonly known as 'Flying Fox' and 'Zipping'. What I experienced in the Army is known as the 'Omega Slide' because we actually hold on to something that resembles the Omega Sign 'Ω'. We did have a safety belts but the some of the instructors were giving us a demo without safety belts.

I had to do this exercise during NS-Army Military Police Training and it was 5-Storeys high and to top that I have this height phobia (fear of falling). I did it 8 times. the 1st 4 times, my legs was all wobbly (because of my phobia) and therefore I couldn't run at the end and stumbled. The remaining last 4, I managed to run at the end and I thought I was cured from my phobia... but years later without ever doing it again, my phobia has returned.

I don't think I will ever get over this Height Phobia but from this experience, maybe I should do this often to keep my Height Phobia at bay because when I did it then and had gotten used to it... I really didn't feel that I had Height Phobia.

Image 2 ~ I've re-sized this GIF-Animation bigger for easy viewing.

http://oi49.tinypic.com/2cqf9tf.jpg

===.

Friday, June 08, 2012

Joke ~ LCP, CP and LTC

I have an original Army Joke by someone else involving this picture... but I can't mention this joke here.

===.

LCP = Lance Corporal

CP = Corporal

LTC = Lieutenant Colonel

===.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Father & Son Joke & Pun of the Day

When a son said that his ambition was to drive an
army tank his father said 'I won't stand in your way'.

===.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

War Story ~ True Story of Twins, Secrecy, War & Strategy

This story is on the front page of the The Australian Newspaper... today, Wednesday, 2012 Apr 25.

I thought this was a lovely, war-time story. I had a good read.

===.

News ~ A Lovely, True Story of Twins, Secrecy, War & Strategy

Article

25 Apr 2012

The Australian

CHIP LE GRAND

You're the spitting image of your brother: the ruse that sent twins off to a secret war

AFTER all these years, Don Field has never grown weary of the siblings' high jinks that landed him and his twin brother Peter at the centre of one of the more extraordinary Australian stories of World War II.

Twins Don and Peter Field, members of a secret team dropped behind enemy lines in WWII to intercept Japanese radio transmissions in the jungles of New Guinea

With a mischievous look, he passes over a photograph of two identical teenage Diggers in slouch hats, and challenges anyone to tell which one is which.

The only clue is that one brother is sporting a slightly forced grin. Surely that must be Peter, the one with something to hide?

Don Field, now 88, laughs and takes the photograph back.

It was 70 years ago that the brothers pulled a swifty on the medical examiner at the Ripponlea drill hall in Melbourne's southeast, enabling Peter to enlist despite his history of heart problems and against his father's wishes. As it turned out, neither brother would have any trouble keeping a secret.

The switch, Don Field admits, was his idea. As the would-be recruits were called in alphabetical order, Field, DC presented first and was given a clean bill of health.

He then joined Peter in the bathroom, where the brothers quickly changed clothes. When Field, PC was called, the doctor was amazed. ''You really are the spitting image of your brother,'' he exclaimed.

Later in life, the Fields would march together on Anzac Day, carrying the banner for the Australian Special Wireless Group. By then, the story of how they fudged the medical exam had become the stuff of legend.

Ask them what they actually did in the war, however, and you'd be met with a short response.

It was only two years ago, when a brown paper package sent by the British government arrived in the letterbox of Don Field's Melbourne home, that the full wartime exploits of the brothers could finally be told.

Inside the package were three things: a gold medal emblazoned with the words ''We too served''; a citation from the head of Bletchley Park, home to Britain's famous wartime code-crackers; and a separate citation from then British prime minister Gordon Brown.

The citation from Mr Brown ran to a paragraph. For Mr Field, they were words he never expected to read: ''The government wishes to express to you its deepest gratitude for the vital service you performed during World War II''.

Over a cup of coffee at his house in Melbourne's eastern suburb of Nunawading, Don Field yesterday said Mr Brown must have authorised the citation just before he lost his own job. ''I don't know if that means it is worth more now or not,'' he joked. For his wife Patricia, the revelation of her husband and his brother's feats came as a shock. ''He never told us anything,'' she said, shaking her head.

Peter Field died before the package arrived but the recognition from Britain meant that for the first time, Don Field could speak freely about the two years he and his brother spent in the jungles of New Guinea intercepting Japanese radio messages as part of a covert operation overseen by General Douglas Macarthur, the US Supreme Commander of the Southwest Pacific Area.

For three months at a time, the Field brothers and other members of a hand-picked group would live in jungle sites behind enemy lines, monitoring Japanese communications around the clock. They were armed with basic infantry skills, high-speed morse code, a working knowledge of Katakana, one of three Japanese scripts, an old Simpson radio and a concealed cyanide pill in case of capture.

The communications they intercepted and sent to London via Brisbane, provided critical intelligence to Macarthur's strategy of cutting supplies to Japanese troops in the Pacific.

The most spectacular success were the intercepts that enabled the US to plan the mid-air assassination of Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese admiral who had planned the Pearl Harbor attack. From their jungle camps, the Fields could see Macarthur's strategy also working on the ground. ''They would come into the camp,'' Don Field said of the starving Japanese troops. '' You couldn't help but feel sorry for them. They would come and raid our cookhouse at night. You always knew when they had been around because they used to wear funny shoes with one big toe. You would see the foot prints in the jungle behind.

''They knew we were there but they didn't know what we were doing. They weren't getting supplies and they didn't have much fight left in them. A lot of them were giving themselves up.''

It wasn't just the Japanese who were oblivious to what the Australians were up to. When they were first recruited for their mission, the specially trained members of the ASWG were sworn to secrecy. No records of their mission were kept. ''All the young fellas that were in this unit had to sign a statement that they wouldn't divulge what they did to anyone — any of their parents or loved ones — for 60 years,'' Don Field said.

''Everyone kept that secret. Whenever anyone asked me what I did I just said signals. That was it. For years Peter and I could carry the banner on Anzac Day. But I have never told anyone.''

===.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Soldier ~ NS, Army

~~~.

Soldier ~ NS, Army, Push-Ups,

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

My BLOG Entry ~ Heat Stroke

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 10:15 AM
Subject: Heat Stroke

~~~

Heat Stroke

The common heat injuries are heat exhaustion - marked by symptoms such as headaches, nausea and fainting - and heat cramp, a painful muscle contraction in the thigh or calf as a result of excessive loss of water and salts. Heat stroke, which is potentially fatal, strikes when the body temperature shoots up beyond 41 deg C. The normal body temperature is about 37 deg C. Recruits have been told to drink beyond the point of thirst and/or until their urine is clear. Servicemen are also taught to watch out for their buddies and identify early signs of heat injuries and how to deal with them.

~~~

News ~ SAF is winning the war against heat

The Straits Times, Monday, 2011 Feb 28, Page A3

Picture Caption ~ SAF Medical Corps members demonstrating on a dummy, treatment techniques used on soldiers with heat injuries at Nee Soon Camp on Friday. The 33 medical centres in camps and training schools - including the Basic Military Training Centre on Pulau Tekong - have body cooling units to deal with heat injuries. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

New rules, education see heat injury cases fall 90% from 1990s

By Jermyn Chow

WHEN it comes to heat injuries, Singapore soldiers are increasingly keeping their cool.

Based on statistics from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Medical Corps, the number of cases has fallen from about 200 per year in the 1990s to 20 per year now - a dip of 90 per cent.

New training regulations and education have helped reduce the number of heat injuries. The number of cases has stabilised over the last five years, during which the SAF stepped up training at home and overseas.

It also deployed a record number of servicemen in peace support missions in Afghanistan and the Gulf of Aden last year.

Each year, more than 20,000 male Singaporeans report for national service, introduced in 1967 to strengthen Singapore's defense capability.

Lieutenant-Colonel (Dr) Lionel Cheng, deputy chief army medical officer, said soldiers succumbing to heat are mostly full-time national servicemen.

Heat stroke, which is potentially fatal, strikes when the body temperature shoots up beyond 41 deg C. The normal body temperature is about 37 deg C.

The SAF medical corps declined to reveal the number of heat stroke cases, saying only that they are "a small number". The last reported death in the military due to heat stoke was in 2008, when a 20-year-old trainee pilot collapsed during a three-day jungle course in Brunei. He died later in hospital.

Lt-Col (Dr) Cheng said the new training regulations and education are important because most of the new recruits, despite living in an equatorial climate, have a more "air-conditioned lifestyle".

"National service may be the first prolonged time during which they are doing physical activity outdoors," he added.

The moves, which have been in place since 2009, include putting recruits through a heat acclimatisation phase during the first four weeks of basic military training.

Training also includes "work-rest" periods to allow for adequate rest. This process, also known as periodisation, can range from 15 minutes of rest after a 45-minute workout, to a day of light activities such as indoor lectures after two of three days of outfield training.

Recruits have been told to drink beyond the point of thirst and/or until their urine is clear. Servicemen are also taught to watch out for their buddies and identify early signs of heat injuries and how to deal with them.

Besides measuring temperature, Major (Dr) Jonah Kua, a medical officer in the Soldier Performance Centre, said the SAF also monitors wind movement, humidity and how fast human bodied conduct heat to ascertain whether it is safe to train.

He added that the 33 medical centres in camps and training schools - including the Basic Military Training Centre on Pulau Tekong - have body cooling units to deal with heat injuries.

The military is sharing its winning formula, with the guidelines compiled in a 35-page dossier. It has been published and circulated since November to doctors in hospitals and clinics.

But Lt-Col (Dr) Cheng cautioned that as long as the SAF continues to train, it can only keep heat injuries low but not "down to zero".

Agreeing, housewife Clare Tan, 50, whose 19-year-old will be enlisted later this year, said: "Tough training is important to make a good soldier so long as safety is not compromised.

"But I'll probably have to get my song outdoors more often and get him used to doing things under the sun."

~~~

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 02, 2011

Labels: Army, Heat Stroke