139 SERVICEMEN RECEIVE MEDALS FOR OVERSEAS WORK

There is a Chinese saying, "10 years of work for every minute on stage".

For 139 Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel, their years of training as soldiers were put to good use when they were deployed overseas for missions ranging from multinational stabilisation and reconstruction efforts and humanitarian work.

At a ceremony held on 17 Jan at Kranji Camp III, these servicemen received the Overseas Service Medal (OSM) in recognition of their contributions to the SAF's overseas missions.

The recipients included four Military Institutional Trainers (MIT) and a 52-man Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Task Group deployed to Afghanistan for the first time, six members of a Construction Engineering Team deployed to Bamiyan province and two 21-man Weapon Locating Radar (WLR) teams deployed to Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan.

In addition, a military expert deployed to Pakistan last August to September as part of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team, and an officer deployed to the Combined Maritime Forces Headquarters in Bahrain from September to December last year, were also honoured.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean, who presented the medals to the recipients, said: "In the last decade, the SAF has deployed over 2,300 servicemen overseas in support of multinational peace and security operations. Our contributions are not large, but they are in niche areas where we have the expertise and which our international partners find operationally useful."

One of the SAF's recent contributions in Afghanistan was the MIT team, who worked with the Australian Defence Force to establish an Artillery school in Kabul to train the Afghan National Army (ANA).

Led by medal recipient Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Nicholas Seow, the MIT team helped to advise the ANA on artillery training, doctrine development and the design of programmes to train the trainers.

They also secured a new location to construct and build complete facilities for the Afghan school of Artillery, which was officially opened on 4 Oct last year.

While LTC Seow and his team have returned to Singapore, a 10-man team from the SAF will continue to train the ANA in Kabul until this December.

On the highlights of his deployment to Kabul from August to December last year, LTC Seow said: "One of the milestones was teaching the Afghan Artillery how to conduct indirect fire missions, which involves employing a forward observer to fire at targets not visible from the gun position."

"They only conducted direct fire missions in the past, so being able to conduct indirect fire missions now represents a significant achievement in the development of the Afghan Artillery capability."

Noting that working in a different environment such as Afghanistan posed several challenges, UAV operator 1st Warrant Officer (1WO) Krishnasamy said: "We operated in high-altitude conditions in Afghanistan, and that could hinder the performance of the UAV.

"For example, the UAV required a longer take-off distance, and climbed at a much slower rate, but we adjusted accordingly for the aircraft to perform surveillance and reconnaissance missions successfully."

He was part of the UAV Task Group deployed to Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province from August to November last year.

Commander of the UAV Task Group, LTC Alvin Chan, commented on other threats faced by the team in Uruzgan: "Insurgents occasionally launched rocket attacks , but our Weapon Locating Radar team was able to provide early warning before these attacks, and our UAV operators were trained to fly and land the UAV even in a high threat environment."

"Such precautionary measures helped to keep our soldiers safe while carrying out our operations," he added.

Challenges aside, the servicemen whom cyberpioneer spoke to considered their deployments an enriching experience.

"This deployment provided us with the opportunity to look at things from a broader multinational perspective, as well as validate our processes and systems," said LTC Chan.

Added Captain (CPT) Muhammad Rashik Bin Omar, security team commander for the WLR team deployed from May to October last year: "We widened our knowledge through interactions with the coalition partners, such as exchanges about different weapons and tips on weapon handling."

Commending all 139 servicemen for their professionalism and dedication, Mr Teo also awarded the Unit Citation to the 24th Battalion Singapore Artillery and 128 Squadron for their contributions to the successful completion of the WLR and UAV Task Group deployments in Afghanistan respectively.

"In successfully carrying out your missions and fulfilling your responsibilities, you have enhanced the reputation of the SAF as an operationally ready and competent force," he said.

Besides the family members of the medal recipients, Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Neo Kian Hong, Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral Chew Men Leong and Chief of Air Force Major-General Ng Chee Meng were also present at the ceremony.