www.mindef.gov.sg/army MARCH 2013 ISSUEISSUE 215209 SEPTEMBER 2013 HIGHLIGHTS ARMY INTELLIGENCE: A NEW LOOK AND FEEL EX TIGER BALM/ LIGHTNING STRIKE 2013 FAMILY IS EVERYTHING www.mindef.gov.sg/army CONTENTISSUE 215 ----------- SEPTEMBER 2013 PAGE AROUND OUR ARMY 3 • OBR Exhibition @ Toa Payoh • Skill-at-Arms • Keeping in Touch with Our Soldiers at 39 SCE! 4 • Going Into Afghanistan 5 • NS Story: Our Army And Me FEATURES 6 Army Intelligence: A New Look and Feel 8 Ex Tiger Balm/ Lightning Strike 2013: A True Display of Military Professionalism and Friendship 10 Back to School with the SSPP! COVER STORY 12 Journey to NDP 16 NDP 2013: Celebrating Singapore’s 48th Birthday! OUR PEOPLE 20 BMT Graduation Parade: Training to be Soldiers! 21 BMT(V) Graduation Parade 22 Family is Everything FITNESS 24 Together we Run 26 Friendship, Food and Fitness 1 AROUND OUR ARMY the editor speaks OBR Exhibition @ Toa Payoh Story by Edmund Heng / Photography by Boey Jun Wei Editorial Board Happy birthday Singapore! This month, we look back at Our Army recently ended our deployment in Afghanistan the party of the year, our National Day Parade in a photo after 6 years stretching back to 2006. To show the public COL Alfred Fox essay featuring the highlights, as well as the people behind what these men have been through, we have brought COL Chua Boon Keat the scenes. It is also a good opportunity to reflect on how COL Yang Si Cheng the OBR exhibition to the heartlands where the public far we have come as a young nation. Yes, we certainly live can see and understand what it was like being a soldier in LTC De Silva Joe Ronesh in a peaceful and stable, multi racial, multi cultural and LTC Dennis Oh Afghanistan. Curious bypassers all stopped to ask our OBR multi religious environment. But we must always remain CWO Tang Peck Oon Ambassadors how it was like being in Afghanistan, be it as Mr Lucas Lai vigilant and never take things for granted. These are the a medic or as a trainer. Our deployed soldiers were on hand James Suresh very reasons that we must be ready, be decisive in our to share their experiences with members of the public. Sebestian Sim actions and continue to remain a respected organisation. *The OBR exhibition will be visiting Chua Chu Kang (7-8 September), Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza (21-22 September) and Tampines (28-29 Editorial Advisor The Army Half Marathon has just been run, and we look back at the Defence Minister, Dr Ng Eng Hen, formally opens the OBR exhibition at Toa Payoh September). preparations that went on, quietly and without fuss. It was also the first time BG Perry Lim that we saw families participating together, and share with you what they had News Crew to say about this new initiative. Skill-at-Arms Keeping in Touch with Story by Edmund Heng / Photography by Boey Jun Wei Editor We also reflect on some of the events and moments that made the news - of Our Soldiers at 39 SCE! Mel Ferdinands unintended advertising gaffes, and of stomped photographs on empty buses. Story by Bjorn Teo / Photography by Matthew Lim Deputy Editor The positive takeaway from all of this is how our soldiers past and present, as Charles Eu well as members of the public, reaffirmed their beliefs and spoke about the Melvin Loo respect for the uniform that we wear, and the contributions that our NSFs make. Writers Bjorn Teo Jotham Yeo A heartening and timely reminder that respect for Our Army has always and Andrew Tan will always start from within. Edmund Heng Daniel Yong Oon Ming Shen Mel Ferdinands COA (foreground, 2nd from right) and SMA (foreground, 2nd from left) )running with Photographers the soldiers of the Engineer formation, equipped with gas masks, at Seletar Camp Boey Jun Wei Armour Units gather for the latest Amour Skill-at-Arms to As part of on-going efforts to engage soldiers, Chief of Lim Wei Liang test their gunnery proficency Matthew Lim Army (COA), MG Ravinder Singh and Sergeant Major of the Army, CWO Tang Peck Oon went to Seletar Camp on 2 August Graphic Designers for a 2 km run with the soldiers of 39th Battalion, Singapore Dennis Wang PASSING ON THE BATON Combat Engineers (39 SCE). He was accompanied by Chief Sim Chun You Koh Jian Le Engineer Officer (CEO), COL Tan Pek Tong; and Commanding Officer, 39 SCE, LTC Kenneth Gn. But it’s not just any normal Facebook Representative run; COA and the soldiers ran with the Combat Engineers’ gas Lee Xiang Rong mask on, which proved to be a lot harder! ARMY NEWS is a monthly publication of the Singapore Army. The opinions and views in After the run, COA said to 39 SCE, “Sometimes you find the this newsletter are those expressed by the writers and do not reflect the official views of training tough, but remember that this is whats prepares us. the Ministry of Defence. All rights reserved. When the time comes, you must all be ready and operational.” Subjected to the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1986, no part of this publication may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, COA also took the opportunity to present the COA coin microcopying, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced or transmitted The winner of the Skill-at-Arms, Armour Training Institute! to three soldiers for their outstanding contributions to the without prior written permission from the publisher. formation: 3SG Timothy Tan Jia Rui, Section Commander; It has been 9 years since the last Armour Skill-at-Arms and 2LT Chong Kia Wei, Logistics Coordinating Officer; and LCP Visit us online! Gopinathan S/O Sivanathan, Combat Medic. 3SG Tan spotted You may log on to Army News on the internet at it made a triumphant return when Armour Training Institute http://www.army.sg (ATI) hosted the latest Skill-at-Arms. The audience, which early warning signs of exhaustion in one of his men and Have something you wish included Armour commanders and officer cadets, were prevented further physical injury, LCP Gopinathan made to share with us? treated to a magnificent spectacle as the different units from the accurate decision to evacuate a hyperventilating soldier, If you have any articles to contribute or suggestions preventing further injury, and 2LT Chong went to provide about our newsletter, contact us at : the Armour formation competed against one another. The [email protected] first Armour Skill-at-Arms was held on 10 July 1971 and it is assistance for a wheelchair-bound civilian who was having ARMY NEWS seen by the Armour formation as a way to benchmark their trouble on a bus. (Suggestions and Feedback) gunnery proficency. 308 Gombak Drive, #04-28 * In last month’s issue, it was reported that Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen presented 48 SAR with their new Bukit Panjang Camp, Blk I, Singapore 669646 Regimental Colours. The new Regimental Colours were instead presented by President Tony Tan Keng Yam. We apologise Tel : 6427 0460/6427 0465 Fax : 6427 0640 for the error.* 3 Going Into Afghanistan The Ops Learning Symposium featured keynote speakers involved in Ops Blue Ridge, who shared key lessons from Afghanistan Story by Bjorn Teo / Photography by Matthew Lim (GEN) John Allen, who served as Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from July 2011 to February 2013. Raymond Anthony Fernando is a motivational speaker, poet, author, trainer, songwriter, ghost writer, freelance television actor, media celebrity, regular newspaper forum page writer and an advocate for the mentally ill. He is a volunteer with Silver Ribbon Singapore and the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). The author GEN Allen expressed his of 18 books is also a caregiver to his wife, Doris Lau who is coping well with schizophrenia and advanced appreciation for the SAF’s presence arthritis. Raymond has 37 years experience in caring for his wife. in Afghanistan. He said, “My This Model Caregiver 2007 and Mental Health Champion 2010 who is born on Valentine’s Day has experience with the Singapore contributed 31 years service in the public sector, has 15 years experience in public relations work and has soldiers has been wonderful. The received several awards and commendations from government organisations. soldiers were professional in their training of the Afghan soldiers, and I enlisted in 1968 and worked as an administrative assistant in Simon Road Camp – The Transport base for the SAF. National Service and the lessons that I learned during my 2 the fact that the Afghan artillery years made me the person that I am today. It made me more organised, it taught me the importance of team work and most of all it taught me not to give up- to persevere, and soldiers were able to operate that’s how I am able to take care of my wife. independently by the time you In this day and age, it is important that our Army remains ready, decisive and respected. As Singapore becomes successful and with terrorism on the rise, it’s vital that we have guys left is testament to the good a cohesive society, a strong defence force- both psychological as well as physical so that we will not be vulnerable to anyone who is envious of our nation. work that the Singapore Army has done. It has been a great honour to To all the young men about to enlist, I would like to share some advice. Take national service seriously, it will instil discipline, a sense of belonging to our country and it helps to build relationships - all these qualities will help you to take on challenges in the future, whether it is bringing up a family, managing a career and everything else in your later years.