Ops Bacinet

19 December 2006

Ops Bacinet @ ExxonMobil Refinery (5.12.06 ~ 19.12.06)
Frankly, I did hope to be allocated to Changi Airport for Ops Bacinet, because its near home. But to be honest, being attached to Alpha Company (again, after NDP06, as Alpha Coy still has not overcome its manpower shortage problem) and assigned to ExxonMobil isn't as bad as what I expected.

ExxonMobil Refinery
I do have to admit that ExxonMobil is really far... Located near Tanjong Kling, it is actually much more ulu than SAFTI and NTU. The facility is only served by Bus #254, which takes about 1h to reach Boon Lay bus interchange (+ another 1h on MRT). Thank God that Papa is willing to ferry me there if I am to book in the morning or night. Hence, I only need to take public transport home for booking out. But guess it is good training for my upcoming NTU days.

The only commercial amenity outside ExxonMobil Refinery is the ExxonMobil Petrol Kiosk (make sense to have a petrol kiosk at its HQ right), where you must purchase all your essentials (e.g. food, sweets, magazines, newspapers, cigarettes) before booking in.

I am actually quite disgusted with the conditions of the bunk (which is retrofitted from a Multi-Purpose Hall (MPH), showers and toilet. Honestly, I am really very 'allergic' to dirty toilet and showers, especially those that are covered with lots of stains, rust and algae. I'm ok for tough duties, but toilet needs to be clean.

Lucky enough, my schedule (getting to details of the duty soon) allows me to book out on the 1st day. With a good night sleep at home, I am able to adjust my mindset to adapt to the conditions there and I'm proud to say I maanaged to overcome my fear. Upon arriving at ExxonMobil the next morning, I don't find the MPH to be as disgusting as what I saw yesterday. Thus, I'm able to perform my duty rather well.

Duty
Alpha Company is led by Force Commander, CPT Spencer (Alpha OC) and the Coy is divided into 2 details.

The roster is based on a 3-day schedule (i.e. work 2 days, rest 1 day). Therefore, each detail will stay in 2 days for a 12h shift, followed by a 12h rest. In other words, at any point of time, there will be a detail that is on duty, a detail that is resting in ExxonMobil Refinery and another detail that is having their Off Day.

By right, SQ, Jon and I (the loaned warriors) are supposed to follow this schedule. As working 12h straight can be tedious, SQ came up with our own 8h schedule: the 1st detail will work from 8am to 4pm, the 2nd detail will take over until 12am, while the 3rd detail will continue till 8am the next day. CPT Spencer is agreeable to our proposal on the condition that so long there is someone in the Ops Room to manage the ground.

When Duty Calls (in the Ops Room)
Basically, our task for Ops Bacinet is rather simple. It is similar to our regular DO duties, just that we are not DOing it in camp and it is a "live" operation.

In the ops room, I need to account strength of the guys present, issue keys, walkie talkies and batteries to outgoing prowlers, collect the issued items back from returning shifts, recharge the batteries and send reports to main HQ (+ adjusting aircon temperature, as the ops room can get really cold during midnight)...

As these tasks can be accomplished within a rather short time (which gets shorter with experiences), this means that we are rather free to idle while on duty... As usual, 1st shift (8am – 4pm) has the most duties to perform and most reports to submit. This explains why I prefer working the 2nd shift (4pm – 12am) and 3rd shift (12am – 8am)...

Unlike camp's ops room, there isn't any internet or TV connection in the ops room, so all of us are really bored to death. I feel bad that I dozed off while sitting on the chair during the midnight shift and the prowlers can't reach me through the walkie talkie. The guys would give me the disapproval black face when they return from their shift, especially if they are drenched in the rain (I'm really sorry)...

To stay awake, I will read Mens Health (thank god I bought a copy at the ExxonMobil Petrol Kiosk before booking in), eat biscuits (ExxonMobil would supply newspapers and replenish tins of biscuits daily) and started drawing various maps and abstract arts using MS Paint available in the PC. However, while issuing vehicle keys to drivers, I found a copy of street directory, which I really make full use of it! I used the street directory and the postal district map from The Straits Times to do my research on postal district division...

CPT Spencer, CPT Rashik and 1SG Kevin also brings in lots of entertainment, which includes laptop (CPT Rashik needs it to do his NUS homework), DVDs and books... I watched "Taxi", "Ali G in da house", "The Island", "Berserk" and all episodes of "The Simpsons Season 3". I am so addicted to "The Simpsons" that I drew Bart on one of the laptop, followed by the entire Simpsons family...

Despite having poor antenna, TV is still the best entertainment when off duty during our stay at ExxonMobil... If I'm off duty for the 2nd shift (4pm – 12am), I will sleep till around 6pm and commence on my TV marathon, watching "Ah Dou" at 7pm, variety shows at 8pm, "Bai Wan Bao" at 9pm, "Chong Shan Yun Xiao" at 10pm and News at 11pm...

All in all, I'm glad the company completed Ops Bacinet safely without any accidents.

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