CELEBRATING SAF'S BEST

With a combined 46 Best Unit Awards among them, three winners of this year's Best Unit Competition share their recipes for success.

Commandos in action during an urban operations drill.

Best Combat Unit
1st Commando Battalion

Hard work

The Commandos continued their winning streak this year with their 13th consecutive win and their 30th win since the competition started 47 years ago.

Speaking about the key ingredients for their win, Commanding Officer (CO) Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Alvin Tjioe Jin Kiat said: "We trained hard to strengthen our soldiers'tactical and technical skills to fight in difficult yet realistic situations. I'm proud of the unit's performance at our annual combat evaluation."

On the unit's toughness, 3rd Sergeant Harie Hadi Khairuddin Bin Joe Harie gave the example of how they tackled Swamp Walk training.

"The trail was only 4km long and we would have gotten out of the place in 30 minutes under normal route march conditions. But we took half a day to complete the training due to the mud."

The Commando Leader recalled: "There were many times when we got stuck in the mud and had to pull one another out of it."

The Swamp Walk exercise also stuck in 2nd Lieutenant Ryan Ng Jun Hui's memory. "We learnt to keep going no matter how hard circumstances were And now this mindset permeates our entire unit."

The Detachment Commander said: "Our unit has won the award for consecutive years so it would be easy for us to take things for granted. However, we tackled complacency and kept pushing ourselves to produce better results."

Corporal (CPL) Arvin Kumar, a Commando Fighter, agreed: "Even for the warm-up missions, we were very serious. There was the option to carry a lighter load or not put in your best effort but we gave our all. Some of the guys even carried a heavier load to get used to the terrain."

Another part of their recipe for success was the ability to innovate. "We would look at the mission profile for every mission and think of suitable items to bring that may help us in certain ways. For example, we once brought along searchlights to distract the enemies and laser pointers to communicate as we could not use our voices to communicate during that training."

(from left) CPL Chong, ME1 Travin, ME3 Kow and LTC Wong in front of their ship. All four men agree that adopting a culture of open communication is essential in continuing to improve.

Best Fleet Unit
RSS Vigour

Open culture

The past year has been an extraordinary one for the crew of missile corvette RSS Vigour.

In addition to winning Best Fleet Unit for the third time, they deployed their ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) together with the United States Navy's FireScout UAV for the first time in the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training 2015 exercise, and conducted their first Barak missile firing on a surface target, after the missile corvette s mid-life upgrade, in the South China Sea.

"The crew has done very well in the past year and achieved many firsts. I am very fortunate to have a group of highly committed and motivated people who have enabled the unit to achieve mission success," said the CO, LTC Wong Chng Tong.

As sailors, they often encounter challenging conditions at sea. Military Expert (ME) 1 Travin Singh, Navigation Operator, recalled occasions when "the sea state was extremely rough, with waves up to 2.5m high... This led to most of the crew losing their appetite and vomiting".

Sea state refers to the condition of the sea with respect to wind waves and swells.

The bad sea state did not take the wind out of their sails. "Our morale was very high and we were motivating and helping one another, so that s probably what kept the ship going."

CPL Chong Xing Yuan, Weapon Systems Operator, agreed. "For example, we have a six-on-six-off routine, where a sailor will be on watch for six hours before resting for six hours. It was common to see the crew take over the shifts of others if they were too tired or not coping well with bad sea conditions."

For RSS Vigour, open communication was another one of the key ingredients for their success. "The one thing that stands out about RSS Vigour is the constant engagement between officers and other crew members, and this helps us to understand one another better," said Coxswain ME3 Kow Poh Heng.

"There are no barriers to communication in the unit. When there's something that needs to be changed, people will speak up and make sure it gets changed."

But perhaps most important of all is their love for the ship. "We like what we're doing and we just want to do the best we can," said CPL Chong.

"We didn't set out to win the award. We were just putting in our best effort to complete our task. The award was an unexpected bonus."

For (from left) ME1 Neo, LTA Howe, MAJ Choo and CPL Sangaran, the secret to success is teamwork.

Best Fighter Squadron
140 Squadron

Team effort

The first fighter squadron established in February 1970, 140 Squadron (SQN) has gone from operating just two Hawker Hunter aircraft to a fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons.

The unit is no stranger to being crowned Best Fighter Squadron - this year marks the 13th time they have clinched the title.

"We have to uphold the high standards set by our predecessors and continue to strive for excellence - being in the oldest fighter squadron, the other units will be looking up to us as their role model," said Air Force Engineer ME1 Jeremy Neo Swee Hong.

CPL Danesh Sangaran, an Air Force Technician, said that he felt happy and honoured about the unit's win.

"We worked hard as a team and dedicated a lot of our time to the squadron. Looking back, although we had to come back to work during weekends, all the pain and sweat were worth it as our efforts have paid off."

Major (MAJ) Jervis Choo Bo Yan, Officer Commanding Alpha Flight, shared: "I think the key to winning is the close bonds forged among crew members. We spend a lot of time together and make sure we pass on all the good practices, from the aircrew to the last man in the ground crew.

"This ensures that everyone shares the same values and understands the goal of every mission."

LTC Tan Hwee Roy, the CO, agreed with MAJ Choo: "To succeed, you have to set a clear goal. This ensures that there is no doubt about the desired outcome. Thereafter, it is about generating a shared sense of purpose to achieve the goal."

Lieutenant (LTA) Christopher Howe Wen Lee, a fighter pilot, added: "All of us, officers and non-officers, work together and joke together. There is no segregation and we are all very good friends."

After winning the award, LTC Tan has high expectations of his squadron and intends to extend their winning streak. "We will improve on our weaker areas and keep doing what we have been doing well."