
Newsflash: Read about the upcoming June
1998 Camp.

Camps are mainly held for 3 days, 2 nights during the June or December school holidays, in
school.
The purpose of camps is to promote teamwork and cooperation between members, as well as
allow the cadets to learn more about the 3 important skills of footdrill, first aid and
TOC.
In the training of these skills, the extended time period during camps allow the cadets to
be taught subjects such as doing first-aid cases, footdrill procedures and others more
thoroughly and with more practice. Furthermore, activities on a larger scale like
Triage-And-Disaster can be carried out only with the participation of all the members and
more time than during normal training sessions.
Camps also give the cadets a chance to train up physically. Regular PT (Physical Training)
sessions are held every morning before breakfast, in the early afternoon and in the
evening. Activities such as hikes also build up their stamina, endurance and strength in a
way that cannot be achieved over several separate training sessions.
Being camps, there are also special activities, such as Triage-And-Disaster, hikes, Solo
Night, sentries and more.
Triage-And-Disaster
Triage-And-Disaster is basically an exercise where a team of about 20 members is sent to
rescue people in situations such as a collapsed building. They must bring these casualties
to their first aid 'headquarters' in the shortest time possible, treat their injuries and
also record their particulars. This trains the members' Organisation, deployment and
leadership skills, as they must complete this difficult and challenging task with limited
manpower, first aid supplies and time. In a way it also trains them how to cope with such
real-life situations if they unexpectably occur. It is usually held only in the ECTC as training for the to-be NCOs.
Hikes
Hikes are organised by the NCOs, where all the members will hike with their backpacks to a
chosen location. It usually begins at midnight and ends in the early morning.
Hikes heavily tax the members' stamina and endurance, as they must carry their backpacks
meeting at least a certain weight as they walk. However, when the cadets have to walk a
long distance (the record is from our school in Bukit Timah to Tampines, a distance of
about 25 k.m.), they will be allowed to return by bus. The distance is increased with the
seniority and physical ability of the cadets.
Solo Night
Solo Night is an activity when the cadets are deployed to different locations in the
school at night and stand there 'at ease' in their St. John uniforms for an hour and a
half. This activity, though sounding useless, actually serves to boost the cadet's
confidence (and courage).
Sentry Duty
The sentries for the night patrol the campsite at night for suspicious strangers or
trespassers. It is usually assigned to cadets who have broken the rules as punishment.
Recreation
Of course, there must be some form of recreation to strike a balance with all the above
tough activities. Recreation during camps include swimming, soccer and basketball, as well
as Combined Activities with other divisions.
ECTC
The ECTC (Elite Commanders' Training Course) is held in June for the Sec 3s to graduate to
become NCOs, and usually lasts for 4 days, 3 nights. It is essentially a very tough camp
and it is when activities such as Triage-And-Disaster, longer hikes and tougher PT
sessions are implemented. This is to ensure that the to-be NCOs are physically and
mentally prepared to be good NCOs to their cadets. It ends with a Passing-Out Parade for
the Sec 3 cadets who have successfully gone through the course.