Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Shelldrake : 1. Our procurement system should be doctrine driven, not contractor (politician) driven.
2. No issues with open tenders, no need for closed/limited tenders. We evaluate, shortlist, test, decide.
3. Written General Staff Requirements (GSR) are there for a reason. A well written and complied to shall eliminate deficiencies and irregularities/irrelevance. I NOTE OF LATE, LAZY OR IGNORANT STAFF OFFICERS WHO FAIL TO PRODUCE WELL RESEARCHED GSR. The education system failed to produce English proficient officer calibre. The result is poorly informed writers who don't read International papers.
4. Unless we are producing our own indigenous weapons, these false sense of security (OSA) is a good camouflage for corruption. Remember the golden rule, the less people know, the better. It's no secret for all to know what weapons we have. We don't hide them in closets for use in war. The very way we build our defence assets in itself is a deterrence to potential adversaries. Look south for example.
5. Our defence industry is a mess due to NEP. Crony GLCs and some uncontrolled grants to shady companies have thrown millions of ringgits into the drain. Unless open policy is adopted, our defence industry is doomed. We can't even produce ammunition reliably. This in itself is a great failure and shall be a big price to pay in war time.
6. Ask Junior Infantry Officers who are experienced and have left the service. what they needed most. Just to let you know, a suggestion was made to a senior officer to have silenced sniper rifles, like what the Green Berets had in Somalia, he turned that suggestion down and he was the Director of Infantry!!!
7. Lastly get the most basic necessity right, the Combat Boots!!
In summary, we need to keep politician's dirty hands out of defence procurements and policy. Ruling political parties funding has been done with kickbacks I suppose, hence the blatant refusal to be transparent. Nuff said!