3 SIR COMES UP TOPS FOR NATIONAL EDUCATION EFFORTS

"Every moment is a National Education (NE) moment."

Armed with this philosophy, the 3rd Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment (3 SIR) sought to infuse NE messages into their training activities by arranging for recruits to be presented with their rifles at historic local sites such as Changi Chapel.

And when 3 SIR soldiers graduated from their advanced infantry training phase, the unit arranged for the cohort to have their graduation ceremony atop Spectator Hill, within the Jurong training area, where the graduands had a bird's eye view of the Jurong industrial estate.

"We wanted to let the graduands know that the economic success of Singapore was possible because of them (and how they are) serving their National Service and doing their part to protect the country," said Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Wilson Low, Commanding Officer (CO), 3 SIR.

Another NE initiative had officers, who were newly assigned to 3 SIR, end their initiation route march with the entire battalion cheering them on. After the thunderous welcome, they recited the Officers' Creed as the battalion watched on.

"Reciting the creed in front of the men they would eventually lead gave the officers an added understanding of what it meant to be a commander and leader, and fosters a greater sense of commitment to defence," explained LTC Low.

3 SIR won this year's Chief of Defence Force (CDF) NE Excellence Award - the highest accolade given to Singapore Armed Forces units in recognition of their NE efforts. The award includes $5,000 worth of NE credits to fund future NE initiatives.

Three other finalists comprising the Underwater Demolition Group (UDG) from the Naval Diving Unit, the Command, Control and Communications (C3) School from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, and the Joint Intelligence Directorate, each won $1,000 worth of NE credits.

The awards were presented to representatives of the winning units by CDF Lieutenant-General (LG) Neo Kian Hong on 21 Jul at the SAFTI Military Institute.

Said LG Neo at the ceremony: "As a mature force, it is not just about (developing) fighting capabilities, but also about (winning) the hearts and minds of our people."

His words were definitely not lost on the award recipients. Two of the finalist units spoke about engaging servicemen to better define their own NE programmes.

According to LTC Muralidharan, CO, C3 School, giving trainees the flexibility to organise NE activities was one of the key reasons which enabled the unit to clinch the prize. At the school, trainees have come up with creative ways to learn about Singapore and its history, such as conducting debates on local current affairs and visiting World War II (WWII) veterans to learn about their wartime experiences.

"Getting the trainees to take ownership and do their own research on NE topics allows them to better learn about Singapore's past," explained LTC Muralidharan.

Similarly, the UDG asked its younger servicemen to help come up with ideas for its NE programmes, which led to various activities such participating in historical Learning Trails.

"We asked our Full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) to contribute ideas so that our NE programmes would be more relevant to the younger people in our unit," explained LTC Neo Kim Hang, CO, UDG. When they saw the value in helping others realise the importance in defending Singapore, some of the NSFs even volunteered to be part of the unit's NE committee and helped to initiate programmes.

On what the unit intended to do with their prize, LTC Neo said: "The credits will be used to facilitate and fund more NE projects for the unit and it will give our future NE initiatives more scope and room to develop."