It was 5am on March 5, but seven trainees were fully alert and standing ramrod straight in full uniform for an outdoor ceremony at the Civil Defence Academy in Jalan Bahar.
Hoping to join the Singapore Civil Defence Force's elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart), they were told by the unit's commanding officer to give their "100 per cent" during the 10-week course they were about to undertake.
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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on May 13, 2018, with the headline Gruelling 10-week course stands in the way of selection to SCDF's elite Dart unit . Subscribe