This is a discussion on Singapore Army Pictures within the Military Photos & Videos forum, part of the Global Defense & Military category; 26 Oct 2011 - Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen visited Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) troops deployed in Afghanistan ...
26 Oct 2011 - Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen visited Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) troops deployed in Afghanistan yesterday. He was accompanied by Chief of Army Major-General (MG) Ravinder Singh and other senior SAF officers.
1. During his visit to Multinational Base Tarin Kowt (MBTK) located in Oruzgan province, Dr Ng met with:
(i) members of the SAF medical team deployed to provide emergency and trauma care, and primary healthcare to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel as well as to Afghan locals;
Dr Ng interacting with the SAF Medical Team at the field hospital in MBTK.
(ii) members of the SAF's Imagery Analysis Team (IAT) deployed there. The 6-man IAT led by Lieutenant-Colonel Yeoh Keat Hoe augments ISAF's reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities in Oruzgan province; and
(iii) met the SAF's National Contingent Commander Colonel Wong Yu Han at MBTK.
2. Dr Ng also visited the SAF's team of ten Military Institutional Trainers (MIT) deployed at an artillery school at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC).
Army Engineers of the Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) Engineering Team, DTP Team (Engineering) Award winner - (from left to right) Military Expert 3 (ME3) Lim Kim Leng, ME6 Chow Wai Yein, ME2 Lawrence Wong Zheng Kiong, ME1 Hong Guang Yang in a group photo during the WLR's deployment to Afghanistan.
"...This year, an engineering team prize also goes to a team whose work, for the first time, arises from actual field operations. So this I can describe a little bit more, because it is not secret edge. This is the 15-member Weapon Locating Radar Engineering Team, our boys in Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan I just visited, for the last 15 months was subjected to rockets fired from villagers. They shoot and scoot. You could send a UAV there,but then they're gone. So early warning is important. It was interesting because the initial reports, they were housed in bunkers. The bunkers had protection overhead, but the toilet facilities are outside and don't have hardened protection. So early warning in a few seconds is decisive, and we contributed by sending our Weapon Locating Radar from September 2009 to December 2010. It was effective in providing early warning of incoming rockets and prevented death and injury. It gave International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) members stationed at the base a few seconds needed to duct, to dive for cover and move to hardened facility. We sent our Weapon Locating Radar but the serviceability and the down time is critical. Obviously this has to be 24/7 because the insurgents don't tell you when they are going to send you a present. This team's innovative efforts to increase the reliability of the radars allowed us to extend the deployment of the by a few months, and also to extend the hours the radars could be operated per day as it is a very important asset.
My heartiest congratulations to all the winners. Thank you for your excellent work..."
Singapore's Defence Attaché to Thailand, Colonel Tony Teo handing over the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) donation of motorised boats to the Royal Thai Army's (RTA's) Chief of Staff, General Sirichai Distakul.
29 Oct 2011 - The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) donated 45 motorised boats to the Royal Thai Army (RTA) in support of the ongoing flood relief efforts in Thailand.
Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) personnel loading motorised boats onto a C-130 aircraft this morning for transporting to Thailand.
21 Oct 2011 - The Singapore Government has sent emergency equipment and supplies to Thailand to assist with flood relief efforts. A C-130 aircraft and a KC-135 aircraft from the Republic of Singapore Air Force transported US$115,000 worth of relief supplies, including tents, generators, blankets, lamps and water containers.
RSAF personnel loading flood relief supplies onto a C-130 for transporting to Thailand.
Flood relief supplies being loaded onto a RSAF KC-135 aircraft for transporting to Thailand.
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“Terrorism is the tactic of demanding the impossible, and demanding it at gunpoint.”
New SAF TV advertisment on SAF personnel who share their deployment experiences in Afghanistan (the SAF has deployed as part of ISAF since 2007 and to date over 350 Singaporeans have served in Afghanistan) and the Gulf of Aden (Operation Blue Sapphire is ongoing as the SAF sends various task groups under the command of CTF-151 to disrupt pirate attacks), as well as in Christchurch, New Zealand, in Feb 2011, where they took part in earthquake relief efforts.
Dr Ng being welcomed by Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Tan Kay Kian, team leader of the SAF MITs deployed at KMTC.
"I visited our servicemen in Afghanistan last October and saw for myself the challenges and the risks they faced up close. We continue to help other militaries prevent terrorists from again using Afghanistan to export terrorism. I spoke to commanders from partner militaries there, the Australian Defence Force and the US Armed Forces. They tell me that our operations there have made a difference and that they value our contributions.
At the end of this year, the SAF will have completed five years of deployments to Afghanistan. We started in 2007 in Bamiyan province, with a five-man dental team and a five-man construction engineering team. I remember the dental team sending back a report, and they said that their presence was a welcome relief, literally and metaphorically. Queues of up to one to two hours of people, with decayed teeth. Our deployments peaked in 2010, with about 100 SAF personnel deployed as part of our Weapon Locating Radar detachment, our UAV Task Group, and our medical, surgical, Military Institutional Trainer and imagery analysis teams. At present, the SAF has deployed, in Kabul and Oruzgan, two teams of a total of 15 trainers and a team of six imagery analysts.
We will continue to support the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF's) strategy to strengthen the capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces to assume responsibility for the security of Afghanistan by 2014. While we continue with our contributions in 2012, we are closely monitoring the transition efforts by ISAF and the SAF will work with our partners towards the future completion of our mission in Afghanistan."
Nov 11, 2011 - The Republic of Singapore Navy has an important role to play not only in protecting Singapore's waters, but also in ensuring maritime security internationally, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen. Commenting for the first time on the foiling of two piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden by a SAF task group [in the first week of November 2011], he said he was proud of the role they played in sinking the pirate vessel:
"I think we have played our part and I think others have noticed, so well done to them."
3G SAF: In its journey towards becoming a 3rd Generation fighting force, the SAF has continued to invest steadily in advanced systems and networked capabilities
Exercise Forging Sabre 2011: Personnel from the RSAF and Army orchestrating an integrated strike mission. Elaborating on how Exercise Forging Sabre 2011 is one of the largest and most complex SAF exercises conducted in the US, Exercise Director and Commander, Air Combat Command, Brigadier-General (BG) Lim Yeong Kiat said: "For this year's exercise, by putting all the elements of 2005 and 2009 together to further develop our integrated strike capabilities, we have increased both the scale and complexity of the exercise. "We will simulate a war game scenario where we have a "red" team acting as the opposition, as well as a "blue" team which will have to develop an operational plan against them. The "blue" force will have to contest for the airspace, and fight and win air superiority. They will also have to conduct dynamic targeting to destroy military targets such as enemy capabilities as well as dent their will to continue to fight with us."
A Commando conducting a surveillance mission to locate and track enemy assets. More than 450 airmen and soldiers from Singapore and the RSAF's four training detachments in the US, as well as 25 RSAF aircraft, are involved in the exercise which is into its third instalment since it began in 2005. BG Lim said:"Previously, we focused separately on the tactical development of troops, setting up and fine-tuning the command headquarters and testing new weapons. "We're now ready to bring everything together in more realistic missions... We want to train the way we fight."
An Apache attack helicopter taking off for a mission. BG Lim also noted that because of Singapore's land and airspace constraints, overseas exercises such as Forging Sabre are important in meeting the SAF's training requirements.
Ground crew preparing to arm the F-15SG with the LJDAM. Multifunction displays in the F-15SGs not only displayed air threats, they also enabled aircrew to weave their way into contested airspace while avoiding the range rings of anti-aircraft gun and missile units on their way to the target. With LJDAMs, the RSAF could not only attack static targets but also time-sensitive targets that were on the move.
"We have a long-standing relationship with the US. The US remains one of our strongest and closest defence partners. The US' presence has brought about stability in the region. We have therefore allowed US military aircraft and vessels the use of our facilities since the signing of a MOU in 1990. And in 2005, PM Lee and then-US President George W. Bush signed the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA), to look for ways where we can facilitate the US' continued presence in the region. The deployment to Singapore of the US Navy's Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) is a manifestation of that cooperation.
In line with our 1990 MOU and 2005 SFA, Singapore is working with our US counterparts for one or two LCS to use our facilities after tests and trials on these new ships are completed. We have been informed by the US that this is possibly from 2013, when they will start to deploy these ships. While there may have been some preliminary staff level discussions on increasing this to four by 2016, we will only evaluate it when we receive a formal request from the US. Let me give you some information on the LCS. It is similar in size to our frigates, with about 75 crew members. Like all other US ships and planes that use our facilities, the LCS are not based in Singapore, and the crew members will live on board the LCS throughout the duration of their deployment. While deployed here, the LCS will make port calls around the region to engage other navies through activities in the region.
Our long-standing relationship with the US also affords us access to valuable technology and training opportunities to maintain our superior fighting edge. We currently maintain four Air Force training detachments in the US. At the end of last year, we also held one of our largest integrated live-firing exercises - you saw some of this in the video, whether it's here or in Australia - Exercise Forging Sabre, in Arizona, involved some 450 SAF airmen and soldiers. And the area where it was conducted was 19 times the size of Singapore. It is these realistic conditions that allows us to hone our capabilities and test our doctrines."
Canadian Colonel Mike Minor, Commander Kabul Military Training Centre - Training Advisory Group, thanks Australian personnel and outgoing Artillery Training Advisory Team Commander, Lieutenant Commander Tim Giggs for exemplary work in mentoring Afghan National Army instructors at Camp Alamo, Afghanistan. Colonel Minor welcomed the new Australian ATAT Commander Lieutenant Dave Kelly.
The third rotation of Australia’s Artillery Training Advisory Team detachment (ATAT-3) in Afghanistan handed over to rotation four on 1 March 2012 at a ceremony in Kabul, following a busy eight month deployment. The ATAT is based at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) and has been operating under the leadership of Australian "gunners" for 17 months. The Australian ATAT 3 contingent was comprised of approximately 20 artillerymen, mostly drawn from the Townsville-based 4 Field Regiment. They formed the core of a multinational team of 150 artillery mentors at ATAT who provide training to around 400 Afghan National Army artillerymen across Afghanistan.
The trainers and mentors from coalition nations, including Singapore at ATAT conduct 10 different artillery courses, from the most basic soldier level up to advance course level for ANA mid ranking officers. For ATAT-3 this included the introduction of a new maintenance course and the expansion of Afghan-wide mobile mentoring teams to deliver operational capability.
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“Terrorism is the tactic of demanding the impossible, and demanding it at gunpoint.”
Above, Prime Minister Her Excellency Yingluck Shinawatra (3rd from left) and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and National Development Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman (2nd from left), accompanied by the two Army Chiefs at the closing ceremony.
Above, Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles from the SAF participating in Exercise Kocha Singa 2012. This year the exercise has grown in size and the exercise is also graced by the presence of the Thai PM (in contrast to the lower key Exercise Kocha Singa 2011).
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h/t to SiamAirForce for the pix and video links. Below, Thai videos of the live firing at Exercise Kocha Singa 2012 (with the Terrex in action supported by Thai attack helicopters and armour including BRT-3E1s, M-113A5s and M-109A5s):-
