AT EXERCISE WALLABY, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Over five days and four nights, the 700-strong 42nd Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment (42 SAR), travelled hundreds of kilometres and overcame the enemy in both long-range engagements and close-terrain fighting.

The unit was going through its Army Training Evaluation Exercise, which was conducted at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) in Queensland, Australia, as part of the annual exercise codenamed Wallaby. The battalion received a commendable Readiness Condition (REDCON) 2A grading, the second-highest grade attainable.

Celebrations were put on hold though, as 42 SAR was busy preparing for the integrated air-land live firing, conducted together with its Air Force counterparts.

Witnessed by Minister of State for Defence and Education Lawrence Wong, the live firing was held at the tail-end of Exercise Wallaby, held this year from 23 Sep to 26 Nov.

Acknowledging that the exercise is important as it allows the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to train in a realistic and challenging environment, Mr Wong said: "It's something quite precious for us to have this opportunity to train here where we can exercise the integration between air and land operations, as we progress to transform the SAF."

On the hard work put in by the SAF servicemen and women, he said: "They come here, they train hard and we are appreciative of the commitment and dedication that they put into their training... If you look at what they have done here, it's more difficult, it's more realistic, more challenging, but it's also more useful for the units to come here to have the experience, to train here."

This is the 21st year the SAF is training in the SWBTA, an area several times the size of Singapore. The vast expanse of terrain, explained Chief Armour Officer and Exercise Director Brigadier-General Benedict Lim made the exercise "the perfect opportunity for our land and air assets to exercise together" as it allows Armour units to practise various outflanking manoeuvres and integrated operations with Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) assets through the Air-Land Tactical Control Centre (ALTaCC).

This year's exercise involved about 5,500 personnel and over 400 assets, which included Leopard 2A4 Main Battle Tanks, Bionix II Infantry Fighting Vehicles, AH-64D Apache helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. Of these assets, two were deployed at Exercise Wallaby for the first time - the Leopard Armoured Recovery Vehicle (LARV) and the Leopard II Armoured Vehicle Launch Bridge (L2AVLB).

The fully-automated LARV, operated by a three-man crew, makes use of the Combat Recovery Device which allows it to hook up to and tow away incapacitated Leopard 2A4s. This means that vehicle crew no longer need to set up the tow bar manually but can instead conduct the entire recovery from within the vehicle. The L2AVLB, on the other hand, allows armoured vehicles to cross gaps of up to 25m.

For 2nd Lieutenant (2LT) Billy Leong who oversaw the maintenance of the armoured vehicles during the exercise, being able to service armoured vehicles in the outfield environment as compared to within workshops was a defining moment.

The battalion workshop officer, who worked round-the-clock to ensure that the armoured vehicles were in tip-top condition, described his Exercise Wallaby experience as adventurous and challenging. The 24-year-old said: "Exercise Wallaby was good for our training. We displayed our full capabilities and showcased what we are made of and what our fighting capabilities are."