Patrol Activity, 1st September

Hi Guides!

During this Patrol Activity, the patrols in COY 1 had their separate activities, while the patrols in COY 2 went through an Obstacle Journey (OJ)!

Patrol 1

They had to build an eight men tent, a baggage rack, a shoe rack, and a basha (emergency shelter). Firstly, they were given 7 minutes to get all the logistics needed from 团部. Next, they were then given 30 minutes to build an eight men tent. The second segment was to build a baggage rack, basha and shoe rack in forty two minutes. Lastly, they were given an overall debrief.

All these structures are important structures to take note of because they are the standard structures required for our Annual Training Camp (ATC), hence this PA was a good opportunity for the Year 1s and 2s to brush up on their skills and recall the structures before ATC. Overall, the performance was not up to standard and many things were kupped. Hopefully, the Year 1s and 2s have learnt a lot from this PA, and will improve on the aspects they are lacking in. Also, with this PA, they should be more prepared for ATC.

Thoughts from a Year 2...

We forgot to take two 中短木 and had to be reminded. We should be more aware of the exact quantity of our logistics next time round. For the eight men tent, we took a very long time to get the main metal poles up because there was not enough effective communication. As the Patrol Leader, I should have spoken louder and given clearer instructions to my patrol mates and juniors. Another thing we lacked in was 报时and cheering. We could have cheered more to boost our morale. Moreover, we did not take note of minor details like the angle of the tent pecks and also the pacings. In addition, we should have a much better sense of urgency next time and also take note of the standard timings to make sure that our personal standards are up to standard. The outcome of the baggage rack was quite pathetic. It was extremely unstable and the lashes were loose. Overall, there are many, many things we could have improved on and personally I felt that we did very poorly that day. 

Patrol 2

Patrol 2 did a baggage rack and also 8-man tent for this PA. The Year 1s and 2s had the chance to practise on what to do during boar and hornet attack. After that, they were to finish building the baggage rack, and for every 5 白绳 they needed, they had to pump 5 times. 

After that, they built an 8-men tent. While building 8-men tent, they were told to give the box of 白绳 to the Year 3s and to retrieve the amount of  白绳 needed, they had to run one round around the General Science Lab so that each patrol member could get 3 白绳 each. In the end, the Year 1s and 2s decided to run 2 rounds. Also. they were initially unsure of the steps, and had to clarify their doubts. However, the Year 3s kupped our logistics a few times, meaning that they need to learn to better take care of their patrol logistics.

Hopefully, this PA taught them a lot and also helped to prepare them for ATC!

Thoughts from a Year 2...

We learnt a lot through this 集合 like sense of urgency, 报时 and the importance of cheering more frequently. We can definitely improve from this PA!

Patrol 3

For this PA, Patrol 3 had gadgeting and outdoor cooking. Firstly, they were given a few minutes to take all needed logistics from 团部. After they had taken everything, they had 30 minutes to build a flagpole and a fire altar. Afterwards, they were ready for outdoor cooking! The Year 3s gave them a time limit to sustain two fires and limited the number of matches they could use too. However, most of their kindlings was wet and hence they had difficulty sustaining the fire after lighting it. Thus, they had to spend a long time trying to sustain the fire, mainly by adding more 木麻黄 and palm leaves to allow the fire to burn more quickly and then adding thin twigs. In the end. the Year 1s and 2s also used more matches than necessary, indicating that they have improve on our firelighting skills.

After a while, they managed to sustain the fire long enough to boil water and cook food. The food they made was marshmallows covered with Nutella and placed in bread. They then sat down and finished the food they cooked. 

Thoughts from a Year 2...

From this PA, we learnt that we should have a sense of urgency at all times, even though this Guides activity was more relaxed than usual. Plus, we should always dry our kindling beforehand, and there are tips and techniques on firelighting skills that we should familiarised ourselves with! All in all, it was a fun PA. :)

Patrol 4

Patrol 4 did gadgeting and were also tested on their knowledge of trekking signs. In the end, they managed to answer 5 out of 6 of the trekking signs and their kitchen dresser was relatively stable. However, they were also quite unsure about the kitchen dresser initially, showing that they need to familiarise themselves with this structure. 

Hopefully, they have improved on their soft skills and hard skills after this PA and have taken note of the areas they need to work on. Since ATC is nearing, they have to brush up on lashes and other skills quickly! 

Thoughts from a Year 2...

We did our best to 报时 and cheer regularly. However, we were very slow and careless. We got a 长木, half bamboo and all our 白绳 kupped. Also, we took about 36分 to 起 2 tripods. If we were a lot faster, we could have finished the kitchen dresser in 45mins instead of 1h15mins, like our PL said, despite the fact that there was only 3 of us. On top of that, we had weak, irregular, 报时 and cheering. We also did not have much communication, not only between the Patrol Leader and Patrol Second, but also between junior and seniors. Worst of all, we had to ask for the proposal for kitchen dresser, as we had not memorised the structure completely.

Patrol 5 

This Monday, they built a flagpole, baggage rack and basha. First, the Year 3s had to teach the Year 1s and 2s how to build a flagpole as they were not very sure of the procedure. Then, they were given 12 minutes to build the flagpole. The flagpole wasn't up to standards, so this was a good opportunity for the Year 1s and 2s to learn and improve before ATC. Afterwards, they had to 拆 the flagpole and were given 9 minutes this time to complete it. 

After that, they had 30 minutes to build a baggage rack. In the end, they managed to complete the baggage rack within the time limit although the netting wasn't very tight and some sagged after a while. Despite this, the baggage rack was relatively stable as a whole. Next, they had to build a basha after the baggage rack in 5 minutes. They were quite messy and 过时 by a lot.

From this, they learnt from their mistakes and took note of the areas for improvement.

Thoughts from a Year 2...

I was the Patrol Leader for the flagpole. It was quite scary as I did not know how to tell people what to do and I didn't speak up enough. Also, we had a lack of sense of urgency which made the whole process quite slow and we had to ask for a 2 minutes time extension. Overall, I hope that we can improve on our sense of urgency and constant 报时 and cheering. We also need to speak up more when it comes to telling our juniors what to do. What I think we did well in was that our lashes were quite tight which is good and we also learnt how to build a baggage rack and flagpole properly! 

COY 2 OJ Station 1

This station was the acid river station. The Year 1s and 2s were supposed to build a structure to help them cross the acid river while building two bashas at the same time. Some patrols wanted to build a tripod and attempt to throw the tripod across. 

Overall, the Year 1s and 2s did not communicate clearly and some did not listen to the suggestions by the Year 1s. They should have better involved their patrol members. For some, even their 配备 was kupped. This is a very bad mistake because without the 配备, they would not be able to complete the station without the necessities such as 白绳 and 麻绳. From this, they have to learn how to better take care of their patrol logistics.

Station 2

The second station was 夜里行军 and gas room. For some patrols, communication was lacking. This led to the patrols being unable to complete the station. In the end, only half of some patrols managed to cross the room, leaving half the patrol behind. Some patrol members were also kupped, indicating that the patrols did not take care of their patrol members.

Thoughts from a Year 2... 

Our patrol morale was also very low. Even if we were blindfolded, we could have at least cheered. We were also in a mess. Manpower was also not allocated properly. There were too many people focused on decoding the message and not enough to help us carry the victim out of the gas room. We can definitely improve on these things.

Station 3

For this station, the Year 1s and 2s were required to build a dome tent while being blindfolded. However, they were generally unsure of how to build a dome tent. Hence, many patrols got the steps wrong. From this, they learnt the standard way of building a dome tent, and should remember the steps because it would be useful in the future. 

Overall sentiments

Thoughts from a Year 1...
I didn't really know what to do during most of the stations, so this OJ was quite confusing. However, I think I've learnt quite a lot from this OJ. We made many mistakes but we will improve during future PAs and 集合s. 

Thoughts from a Year 2... 

The recent OJ COY 2 had this monday was pretty challenging for me as it was the first time we got the chance to step up and lead. I think that I should have been more confident and clear when giving instructions. Moreover, I should also come to future 集合s more prepared.

Thoughts from a Year 2...

All in all, this Obstacle Journey was an opportunity to push us out of our comfort zone and really step us as seniors to lead our Year 1s. This also made us understand the importance of trekking signs and first aid skills. I hope that we can improve ourselves after realizing these mistakes during this obstacle journey.