My Experience as an NCO

By Lance Corporal Jason Ching Chun Aun of 12th Kuala Lumpur Company

Have you ever wonder how is it like to be an NCO? To step into their shoes and doing their job? Well, I am going to tell you how it looks like from an NCOs point of view. This is my experience.

What is an NCO you may ask? An NCO, or Non-Commissioned Officer, is a young leader who helps the captain run their respective companies. Before becoming an NCO, you have to go through many trainings both physically and mentally. To be an NCO you must at least have your Target Badge and gone through and passed BNTS (Basic NCOs’ Training School). You may also need to pass your Leadership Training Camp (company level), as I did. From here on out, its all about how well your performance is.

From my experience before I became an NCO, I tried to act like one inside my mind, thinking  like one and did my best to help benefit the company. Also as a senior, I taught the recruits about Boys’ Brigade, shared my experience with them, tried motivating and encouraging them to join BB for all the goodness the BB has to offer- experiencing many things in life, making new friends, etc.

After all the hardwork, I finally got promoted as an NCO during our company’s Enrollment Day. When I heard my name, it was the best feeling I ever had. The joy bursting out from inside your heart and also the surprise that shocks you. Walking toward the stage to receive your chervon and field service rank, which has to be every BB members dream that they want to make a reality. After the second I shook the VIP’s hand and receive the chervon and wristband, my duty has change not as an BB member but as a BB NCO. Your entire responsibility has shifted, you now carry a new responsibility.

As an NCO, you are the leader, whom members look up to. That is why we must always show a good example to the other members. From my personal experience, being NCO is not as easy as it seems. You may look at them and say “Wow! Being an NCO is so cool!!! I wish I can be like them!”, but actually being NCO is not easy, you are part of the supporting structure of the company, supporting the captain which forms the foundation for the company. One thing I’ve learned from being an NCO is that you cannot, and must not, abuse your powers. Trust me, I was once a private who also had a small little intention to give punishments too. But when I got promoted I realized that with great power comes great RESPONSIBILITY. Notice that I highlighted the word “responsibility”? This is because an NCO is all about responsibility.

Without responsibility you cannot accomplish anything in life, nothing at all. Do you notice how every teacher, parents, and even your captain emphasises on responsibility? Without responsibility the world will be in chaos, every thing will be a disaster because otherwise, no one will care about one another, letting each other fail, even letting ourselves down. This is why responsbiility is one of the main ingredients for success. The main task of an NCO is planning and assisting the weekly parades. This is relatively hard, because we try our best to make every meeting count and meaningful. To me, BB is a time where I put all my problems behind aside and focus on having fun.

BB has changed and made a major impact in my life. A strong advice to my fellow NCOs out there, I hope you guys are doing your level best to help make your company better and enjoyable place to be for your fellow members. I hope that one day we could have all the NCOs attend a big meeting, where we can all sit down and discuss how to make BB much more enjoyable and help find solutions to problems other companies may be facing.

To all the other members out there, aspiring to be NCOs one day. This is my word of advice and motivation. Never give up! No matter what, press on and never lose hope. Don’t be afraid to seek advice from your seniors and officers. Also, seek God for the answer. Pray  and He will help you out from the most dire situation.

I hope this can help motivate you guys to become better members in your respective companies.