史坦必徳小径: Passing of my Sergeant Major

It was with shock and sadness that I read about the passing of my former Sergeant Major, MWO Jude Sebastian Vincent at the age of 49.

MWO Jude, then a SSG, was my first CSM while on active duty, back in 1994, with D Coy, 2 Signal Battalion. Being a 菜鸟, SSG Jude always projected an imposing figure on me. A disciplinarian he is, he always made sure we toe the line. There was once during my first deployment exercise, he had to double up as the vehicle commander for my vehicle as I was untrained then and thus unable to assume that role. Before moving off, saw him reaching behind his helmet to look for the goggle that was supposed to be there as it will get dusty with all the mud and sand kicked up. But, goggle there was not, we forgot to place it there, so he had to move off without one. We sure got a good one from him after the exercise and henceforth we made sure the goggles are always with the helmets.

But it was not long after that I began to discover the funny man inside him. He was always able to crack funny jokes. I will never forget his infectious laughter every time he saw some funny parts while watching movies in the mess. Cannot remember who initiated, but the whole company actually made a last minute decision to rush down to Bugis to catch "Independence Day" and we even had to split up to occupy the seats at the 1st few rows. I can still remember after the movie, someone said, 'Moral of the story; always install anti-virus' and we all laughed, including SSG Jude.

Towards the end of my stay at D Coy, he went on the Jungle Confidence Course. When he came back, he recounted his experiences to us. How he had to lay traps to catch animals for food, how he had to kill a chicken and defeather it. He claimed the course was a torture as he did not have enough to eat! But we all know he said it in jest and he actually enjoyed it,

I did not have a chance to work with him again after I was posted out in 1995. Even though we were both back in the same unit at School of Signals in 1998, being in different departments meant we only did the occasional hi-byes.

I cannot remember when was the last time I met SSG Jude, or MWO Jude now. I guess it was probably during Michael Loy's wedding dinner. On and off I saw photos of him on FB but we were never 'friends' on FB. Never did I expect the next news I have of him would be that of his passing.

MWO Jude's untimely departure had left a gap in the life of those around him. His family had lost its leader, SAF had lost a loyal serviceman and the Signals family had lost a family member.