Standby Bed
In the army, there were many kinds of standby.
Standby bed.
Standby area.
Standby for instructions.
Each one had its own unique way of wasting time.
But the one every recruit remembers most is Standby Bed.
Standby Bed is an inspection of your bunk, locker, and personal belongings.
It usually happens at night.
Or just before booking out.
Which is the military’s way of saying, “I know you have a life. Let’s test that.”
During BMT, most of us had two sets of items.
One display set.
One actual-use set.
The display set was immaculate.
Never touched.
Pristine enough to be featured in a museum.
The real set was hidden somewhere, living its best life.
If anything was out of order, the corporal would calmly say,
“Knock it down.”
Which meant push-ups.
Lots of them.
Suddenly, dust became a serious offence.
In the SAF, Standby Bed is the ultimate test of discipline, attention to detail, and your ability to follow SOPs that no civilian will ever understand.
It can even turn the messiest recruit into a temporary clean freak.
Keyword: temporary.
Because during BMT, everything is neatly aligned.
After BMT, things magically return to their natural state.
Stuff everywhere.
Life lesson:
No matter how well you clean every corner,
the sergeant can always find some dust.
And maybe that’s the real lesson.
No matter how well you perform,
if the boss doesn’t like you,
they can always pick a bone out of a stone.
Standby Bed prepared us well.
