Stand To

Posted by Wayne (Melbourne, Australia) on 22 March 2007 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

This here is Calvin. Calvin was one of my best mates when we were both in the service. He's currently studying up in Sydney. Hans my other brother in arms is currently in the States on an exchange. I miss them both dearly.

Stand To is a contracted form of the longer phrase Stand to Arms...which is basically a state of heighten military alert within the combat unit to be on guard for an attack by an enemy. Back in my day, the Singapore Armed Forces used to adopt the doctrine wholesale from British military...having stand to orders at the first and last of lights (typically the periods at which one might, if it so pleases them thank you very much with a spot of tea, make an attack). In the rapid and evolving combat enviroment of today, attacks come from all sides and at all times...which makes the concept of a stand to obsolete and rigid and also incredibly pointless.

However, this photo reminds me of the other side of stand to...that it is the heighten state of alert...when one brings in all possible senses and devotes it entirely into one single purpose. Calvin in the shot reminds me of that state of Stand To =)

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Comments (5)

objectif-P from Belgium

beautiful picture but it makes me frightened! brrrrrrrr

23 Mar 2007 6:15am

@objectif-P: thanks Objectif-P! Its just the uniform =D when it comes off Calvin's one of the funniest guys in the world =)

shiqi from Singapore, Singapore

that's a nice shot! (: thinking of vet sience (financial problems). if i'm staying in boring old singapore, then i totally wouldn't know what to do at all, so its most probably business then, of which many joining the course are aimless creatures like me(not saying that all are aimless)

23 Mar 2007 4:06pm

@shiqi: Hi Shiqi! Thanks for compliment =D I'm personally quite pleased with it because it was shot off the cuff while we were in the field (I had special permission then to take photos as I was the de facto platoon photographer at the time...which was a great privilege and joy).

Well the university of melbourne (where I'm at) has a pretty good vet science program to my understanding...if you'd like me to find out more information for you...its not a biggie for me to do so.

business is a great field to be in, to be honest with you...sure its the 'new' arts for everyone...but if you get to look at it from the other side...its less of the 'new' arts and really more of the new multi-purpose degree (within reason of course). I was supposed to take a commerce/law degree but for recognition and practice reasons (no longer in effect) I had to drop my commerce degree to pursue a legal-oriented career...personally a commerce degree (similar in most if not all respect to a business degree) is really a very very handy thing to have.

When do you graduate from your A's?

Jen from Jessup, United States

Fabuluos image and story, as always Wayne!

23 Mar 2007 5:41pm

@Jen: Hi Jen! Thanks heaps for the compliment!

LittleKitty from Shunfu, Singapore

Nice shot! I didn't realise they appoint platoon photographers. In anycase, it seems a tad difficult to carry a full DSLR kit together with your rifle and full pack into the field, and still retain the mobility required for the exercise.

24 Mar 2007 3:13pm

@LittleKitty: Hi LittleKitty! I was the de facto photographer...it wasn't an official appointment =). I wasn't carrying my then-plain old joe film SLR camera with me...I was using a tiny (well relatively tiny then) cybershot P2 =). I kept it in a small plastic box with dummy blue fabric tape all over it (ostensibly for safety purposes but really just so I could easily identify it myself) and it either went in my buttpack or depending on the mission...one of my No.4 chest pockets sans plastic box. I was de facto because 1)I had the authorisation permit (LOA) for a camera in camp and out-field and 2)I was the only one at the time who bothered to pursue such things =). Nevertheless, it was still a great privilege for me to be able to pursue my hobby =D.

Alfredo J. Martiz J. from Tokyo, Japan

Cool shot Wayne, I hope your friends are fine!

26 Mar 2007 8:55am

@Alfredo J. Martiz J.: Hi Alfredo! Yeah they're all well and good...we might not talk often but I keep tabs on most of them =D I reckon it's always good to know where your mates are and how they're doing.

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ISO 320
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