Military Offense: Not Wearing Proper Uniform

In senior high school, we had a military training course called CAT and I forgot what it stands for. Anyway, we were required to be in proper uniform (fatigue pants, black shoes and socks, beret hat, white shirt printed with the CAT logo and the name of our school, black belt, white handkerchief and bun hair polished with gel) on school grounds at the hour of 1300 ‘til 1800, when the training session ends. We were required to stop, shout for signal and salute all officers that come our way, stand straight on both feet, sit straight, address the officers with Ma’am/Sir, be polite and to quit making faces and smiling.

One day, my closest friend in high school, Mae, and I were inside the classroom and was too lazy to attend CAT that afternoon. We spent lunch time inside the classroom singing in front of the electric fan and just being totally uninterested about the whole CAT thing, not minding that military hours is nearing and that officers may arrive at any time.



So there, at 1300 inside the classroom, our classmates start arriving. Good thing there were no officers yet and these ‘civilians’ have warned us of the officers that may soon enter the room. The first officer to enter the room? The Corps Commander, the highest official in CAT. Mae and I immediately run for the door and hid behind it. When the Corps Commander passed the door, we scram like little mice avoiding the big cat.

I don’t know about the other batches, but we were the first and only students who've done that in our batch. And we’ve done it just once. I am not proud that I have done something that only a few people could do because they are scared of punishment or demerit. I am not proud that I have refused to do what I was supposed and expected to do. CAT is a subject in our school that only the officers, who can freely exercise their authority upon the other students, enjoy. And maybe, there were also a few of us willing to be under their control and to just be disciplined enough to obey orders.

That day happened not because we were too lazy and uninterested of attending CAT. That day happened not because we were not disciplined. That day happened not because we want to brag that we can do it. That day happened because we refused to do something that we were only forced to do. That day happened because we made a choice – and we chose demerit and punishment over being controlled temporarily and obeying orders.

You know what I have realized just now? That I am only sugar-coating an irresponsibility I have committed. It’s the lack of discipline that provoked us to do something like that. When we’ve done that, we weren’t thinking of things such as control, demerit, punishment, and discipline, especially not of ideals and principles; we were only thinking of something more fun to do than CAT. That was totally irresponsible for students like us.

Maybe in high school, we were really supposed to submit ourselves to its rules. The schedule is tight and fixed, and school hours should be school hours. You can do whatever you wish with the time you have before and beyond that, but when it’s time to submit, submit wholeheartedly. After all, it’s all for your own good. Because in high school, we are still supposed to be ‘caged’ because our young minds are not yet ready to comprehend the complex functions and events of the real world, and everything life has to offer. We are being prepared to have all what it takes to surpass just anything and be strong. It is in those years that we think we already know everything and are capable of doing just anything, but we don’t fully know and understand the world and the consequences of our actions.