Ek kan nie meer nie Korporal!!! …. (I can’t take it anymore Corporal).
Music to a Physical Training Instructor (PTI) Corporal’s ears telling him a simple stress position holding a rifle (in this case the R1) is going its job.
Note some of these “Roofies” (scabs), as you where referred to whilst new to the army doing basic training, are wearing “overalls” (boiler suite) which was the standard issue wear most the way through basic training (your “browns” i.e. combat fatigues remained neatly ironed in your “Kas” (cupboard) most of the time.
For the real old timers who remember these stress positions and who argue that they had it harder on them because the R1 assault rifle was heavier than the later (current) R4 assault rifle – the truth is “unloaded” there is almost no difference. The R1 weighed 4.31 kilos and the R4 weighed 4.3 kilos.
The purpose of such agonising stress positions was to build up weapon familiarity, strength required to carry them for long periods of time and at times to deliver a little corrective punishment.
Post for the South African Legion by Peter Dickens