I'm not sure what you call it in South Africa but in the UKand US military the person at the front of a patrol is said to be on "point duty". As you know the person at the front of a patrol is in the most dangerous position of that patrol.
It was intended as a joke as officers normally carry pistols but are not normally on "point duty" as the patrol would run a high risk of losing the person in command of it.
It wasn't intended to be taken too seriously.
Hopefully I've answered your question as best as I can, not being ex-military myself.