• A new beginning
  
• Young at heart

Though he was only 17 years old at the time he took the entry test, a year younger that the standard age for entry that did not stop him from pursuing his dream job.   All he had to do was to acquire the parental permission required and his father obliged willingly.

Private Chiwale Lindsay is the youngest of the 119 recruits who passed off the parade square at Moneague Training Camp, St Ann, in October 2007, and remains the youngest soldier in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF). 

In his early years Private Lindsay dedicated most of his time to playing football, but as the years went by he was given an ultimatum by his father to choose football or studying.   The teenager heeded to his father’s concern and focussed on his studies.

The 18-year-old past student of the St Thomas Technical High School and former high school football player, still found his 14 weeks of recruit training challenging, but exciting at the same time.

“Though training was tough at times, I was inspired by my Squad Corporal, Corporal Martin who always encouraged me to work hard,” Private Lindsay said.

“My most challenging moment in training was at the Green Bay Range during Battle Inoculation,” he said.   “It was so real and I was frightened at first but as we progressed I realised it was a part of the training.”

“I didn’t like being a Squad Leader as a recruit because I was responsible for every wrong thing that happened within the squad and the platoon”, Private Lindsay recalled.  
And the times he was punished for the mistakes of his fellow recruits.  He learnt the responsibility of teamwork when he had to make everything was okay even when it had nothing directly to do with him.

Private Lindsay, the youngest of five children, and viewed as the ‘baby’ in his family remembered his years growing up as the ‘wash belly (last child)’.    “Because I was the youngest all my brothers and sisters looked out for me and ensured I was alright,” he said. 

“I always listened to them and went to them for anything that my mother and father refused to give me,” Private Lindsay said smiling.

Though he was the youngest in his Recruit Intake, Number 97, that gave him no special privileges; in fact, at times, he was expected to perform at a higher standard than his peers.   

“You are young and suppose to be fit,” Lindsay remembered one of his instructor saying to him.

Lindsay remembered his days at the JDF Training Depot, in Newcastle, St Andrew, particularly, the Families’ Day.   The rain poured but that did not stop the recruits from showing off their newly honed skills and physical fitness.

“When my mother saw me she said, “Look at my baby,” Private Lindsay said.   “She was felt sorry for me. It was the first time she was seeing me since I left home to join the military.”  ‘Breast Milk’ as he was affectionately called by his peers and his instructors hails from Morant Bay in the parish St Thomas.     

Private Lindsay is currently serving at 1 Engineer Regiment (Jamaica Defence Force) and is attached to 4 Support Squadron in that same unit.   He is awaiting the commencement of the Combat Engineering Course which is scheduled to start in January 2008. 

“I was always hearing about the regiment (infantry), so I thought the regiment was the place to be. But after I graduated and joined the Engineer Regiment I realised that I had an opportunity to attain a skill and improve on what I already knew. I did electrical engineering at High School so I had some knowledge in that area,” Private Lindsay explained.  

“My training to become a solder has taught me above all things the value of camaraderie and support for my fellow soldier,” Private Lindsay said.  

Now that he is a soldier, he knows the importance of having been taught a sense of responsibility for his fellow soldier, how that affects their working relationship and the accomplishment of the mission. 

When not on duty, Private Lindsay enjoys watching television and sleeping.