National Service is a rite-of-passage for every Singaporean Son. Apart from the outfield sessions and insider camp-buddy jokes, did you know that certain special vocations actually consider perfect vision as a pre-requisite?

Naval Diving Unit

Being a special force unit in the Navy, the Naval Diving Unit (NDU) mainly carries out underwater tasks like hull checks for the Fleet. As NDU recruits are required to wear diving masks to undergo their missions, wearing spectacles behind the masks will actually cause hindrance to their procedures, as well as extreme discomfort to the recruit. Why not just use contact lens? Not a good idea. Going underwater with contact lenses have been proven to cause bacterial contamination of one’s eye, which can result in severe eye infections, irritation and potentially sight-threatening conditions like corneal ulcer. Given the inconvenient nuances surrounding the special conditions and gear required in the NDU, only NSFs with perfect vision are liable to be part of this prestigious Naval force.

Air Force

For Air Force recruits whose tasks are similar to pilots, vision is very important. They heavily depend on their eyes to look out for other aircraft to track and evaluate position, energy state and intent and make intuitive decisions. This is especially so for dogfights. Generally, pilots have to be wary of other aircraft flying from various directions that might be aiming at them. With perfect vision, they can see things clearly from the corner of their eyes which leads to having better situational awareness in the air. Hence, spectacles can be a hindrance as not only they provide a limited field of vision, they will not be able to stay intact on the face throughout certain manoeuvres in the air. Glasses may also cause discomfort while wearing inside the helmet, and contact lenses are also not advisable as the sudden change in air pressure may cause the blood vessels in their eyes to tense abruptly, leading to rupture.

Don’t be disheartened if you aren’t able enter these vocations. We believe every NS vocation is significant to the defence of our country. We know that NS may be tough, and even more so with out bespectacled NSFs. Having to take care of your rifle was already hard enough, now you’ve got to take care of your spectacles in the outfield too? No worries, COOSH serves to be your lasting buddy! With COOSH’s functional and ergonomic design, we believe it will last you more than your 2 years of service. Click here to find out more on the spectacles specially designed for you – the Sons of Singapore!