Bandar Sungai Long, Kuala Lumpur - 16th April 2005
To everyone else, it was a normal Saturday morning except for the elite few who woke up at 5am to prepare for a special kind of 'war'.
It was the 1st official event hosted by MARTS (Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society) and it was a paintball event. Unlike any other paintball events, this event's playing area is in a real jungle, not the usual pansy jungle which some paintball
places have with barrel drums and wooden planks. This site for battle is actually a housing development area that hasn't been cleared.
At 0630hrs, voices crackled through the airwaves of Victor 36, the assigned frequency for all those mobiling to the rendevous point which is right after the toll gate of the Besraya Highway aka Toll Taman Tasik Permaisuri, heading towards Cheras. I got out of the house at 0630hrs and caught 9W2ZZE, 9W2MCT and 9W2SAL already on frequency heading towards the RV point. I caught up with 9W2ZZE at Bangsar while 9W2XI made his way to the RV point by himself and 9W2SAL was in constant contact with his V-Sixers boys.
Arriving the RV point, the V-Sixers were already there with 9W2XYZ and MCT and the rest of the group. It was a sight to be seen. Standing on the side of the highway with full army fatigues for the some of us and a line of cars and 1 4x4 vehicle. Many people slowed down to see what the commotion was. We quickly made our way to the paintball site which was about 15 mins from the RV point in convoy lead by ZZE. After several turns into the housing areas, we finally arrived at our destination which is a parking area, halfway up a 20% incline road. Onced parc fermed, some of us changed to our Battle Dress Uniforms and the guys from MPA (Malaysian Paintball Association) came with the paintball markers and masks. They gave us a short lesson on safety and usage of the markers and we took pot shots at some trees some 20m away with somewhat not so deadly accuracy. 2 teams were made up consisting of 6 men each. The V-Sixers made one team with 9W2SAL as their Captain and myself on the other team consisting of MARTS guys. A basic map was drawn on the ground detailing the terrain of the area which is a good 2km square! Not getting lost was our 1st priority and making sure that all participants have enough water and some with ORS incase they get dehydrated quickly in the tropical jungle heat.
After test shots were done, the two teams were given extra ammunitions to carry into the jungle and spare CO2 canisters because the 9oz tanks would finish first before we finished all the ammo. All in all each team had 2000 paintballs to lug around in the jungle. Now according to the MPA guys, if any of the paintballs were to burst, it would spoil other paintballs and make the markers jammed up. Now everyone was locked n loaded. The V-Sixers were sent up to the top of the hill by 9W2XYZ on his 4x4 which was supposed to be a good 15 min hill climb on the road before heading into the jungle. He later came back after dropping the other team high up in the hills, which meant that the V-Sixers had to make their way downhill in the jungle and prolly follow the stream in order not to get lost. After setting the frequencies on our handies, we made our way down the hill, trotting down on both sides of the road. 9W2MCT looked exactly like a British SAS patroling the suburbs of Dublin on the left side of the road and with me on the right side looking like a regular GI patrolling the outskirts of Hanoi.
We crossed a large drain to get into the jungle unbeknownst to the whereabouts of the V-Sixers. It wasn't easy on our part either. Coming straight into the jungle, its actually a rubber plantation with levels of rubber trees being tapped. Having the ground and leaves soaked with water due to the pouring rain the night before made matters worse as we had to climb up the hill on a 45 - 60% incline as high as a 5 story building. I went into the jungle complete with cross training sports shoes and it didn't know anything about the word 'grip'. I was slipping down the slides of the slope and my brand new camo pants started to blend in weathered look. It wasn't easy. Holding a paintball marker with a 20oz CO2 canister stuck to it, the bulky hopper on top and trying to climb a hill that was muddy and and covered with wet leaves isn't exacly my idea of a stroll in the park. Onced we made it up to the top of the hill it was a flat land with narrow trails
It took us about 15 mins just to climb hill and puffing and panting away (for me) we moved through the trail single filed trying to listen for enemies. High up above us, monkeys were swinging from tree to tree dropping leaves and water collected from the rain the night before making the atmosphere more tense. As we walked the trail, the heavy and dense clear air quickly took away our tiredness. Onced in awhile we had to swat away the swarms of mosquitoes lingering around our heads. We took no more than 20 metres on the trail when 9W2XI spotted 'the enemy' down by the river. We had the advantage due to higher ground. Immediately masks came down as we prepared to engage in firefight. MCT and ZZE made their way down the trail. AXN, XI, XYZ and myself stayed on the higher ground trail. I knew we needed to make sure that the enemy doesn't have the ability to flank us. Nicely distributed, and XI started shooting, only to have multiple return fires and shouting from the bottom. I took cover behind a big tree watching for other enemy movements. No longer than 2 mins and XI was shot and his position was replaced by XYZ as XI puts his hands up and shouted "Hit. Hit. Do no shoot. Coming out!" XYZ slid down the hill halfway and took refuge behind some shrubs while shooting away at 2 enemy positions. Seeing that he needed cover fire, I shot at the bushes slightly to my left covering XYZ's position.
Shoot, cover. Shoot, cover. I took one peek at the enemy and saw a small yellow object flying straight towards me, straight to my face. SPLAT! I took a direct hit onto my left visor, instantly 'killing'. Straight away I put my hands up and shouted "Hit!" and my enemy gleefully shouted "One Kill, one kill". I got shot by 9W2SAL straight to the face. I walked out of the trail 'reviving' my so called 'life' and came back into the playing area. XYZ was still there shooting at the enemy and got 1 kill. It was amazing how a person dressed in white and green bermuda's and a t-shirt can not get shot. Most of the 'bullets' just whizzed past him. That basically was the scenario for the next 2 hours. The camoflauge I was wearing worked out perfectly. It was very hard for the enemy to spot me, even when I was standing beside a tree 10 feet away from them. Next round, I'd better become the sniper. I was exhausted from the heat and my mask fogged up too much too often making the game less fun made me quit earlier with XYZ. We took a break for around 10 mins before decided to go back to the car park which meant, going back down the steep hill, and walk back up the road to the car park area where the MPA peeps were waiting for us.
When we walked back up the road, it showed clearly on our faces how exhausted we were. I had to walk around at the car park area just to cool myself down and later doused myself with water which XYZ brought for a make shift shower. Started my car, down a couple of cans of Gatorade and switched on the car's air conditioner for 10 mins. After that, XI and AXN went back to the playing field which has been brought down to the river because ZZE and MCT were having a firefight with the enemies.
We finished the game 1 hour after that. It was painted on each and everyone's faces that they were exhausted but had fun. It was the 1st time for all of us though V-Sixers plays paintball almost every fortnight, to play in a real jungle. We all agreed that it was the best playing field except almost all of us never expected the sort of hilly terrain. We took our time to chill out and headed down towards the town area for lunch at NZ restaurant. Stories of who shot who were exchanged during lunch and we were joined by another HAM station, 9W2BTL who was in the area.
2 days after the game, we all walked funny. Not because of being shot, but the terrain of romping in the jungle and traversing the hilly terrain. New strategies were made for the next event and even an over nighter event is being planned. Those who of you who wishes to join for the next round, let me know. It was pure military fun for a weekend.
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