SBO
i dug out my SBO for range earlier this morning, and i found it dusty, mouldy and disintegrating. i looked at it in disgust - heck, there was even a dead cockroach stuck on the velcro.
i couldn't believe this was the same SBO that accompanied me on my first field camp at BMT. i remember how i used the string on the water tumbler to hook the rifle. that saved me from a week's confinement when my sergeant attempted to steal my rifle.
i couldn't believe this was the same SBO at which i piled those blue dummy magazines, training to break Sispec's SOC record. unfortunately the only thing i broke were my left ligaments, but not before i clocked a 7:14, 49 seconds slower than the long-standing 6:25.
i couldn't believe this was the same SBO that smuggled the TWD1000 note under the black duct tape. and how we sneaked a meal of chicken cutlet and bubble tea amidst a 80km topology exercise in the hills of Taiwan.
i couldn't believe this was the same SBO that i had to wear as i marched my orders as the duty officer. first because i borrowed a cookhouse ladder to pluck rambutans. then, because i brought SYSCON down by ordering my platoon to go to sleep. and finally, because i led a gang of officers out to play dota. looking back, those were foolhardy days - but my comrades stood by me, just as my SBO did.
it was a quick few hours at reservist today. i dusted the cockroach off. scrubbed my SBO clean and left it to dry in the afternoon sun. i bought new tumblers, stuck on new duct tape, and i never felt more ready to go to war.