FPDA EXERCISE SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDES

The annual Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) land exercise codenamed Suman Warrior, concluded on 2 Dec, following the successful conduct of a Command Post exercise.

At the closing ceremony held at the Combat Service Support (CSS) Command in Kranji Camp III, exercise director Colonel (COL) Lee Wei Cheng commended the high level of cooperation and camaraderie among the armed forces of the five member nations: Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK.

"In designing the exercise, we were cognisant of the need to have an exercise that would sharpen our respective operational competencies," said COL Lee during his address to exercise participants. He also thanked the delegations for their insightful contributions towards the exercise.

Hosted by Singapore, this latest edition of the exercise focused on enhancing interoperability among the FPDA armies in the areas of logistics and combat service support, working together as a combined force to execute CSS tasks at the brigade level.

"Each country has its own approach to CSS and this is a great opportunity for everyone to come together and make sure that the FPDA nations can successfully operate together," said Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) James Turner, Head of the UK delegation.

Over the 10-day exercise, participants also had a chance to visit Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) facilities such as the Infantry Gunnery Tactical Simulator, the Driver Training Simulation System (DTSS) at the Kaki Bukit Driving Centre, and the SAF Driving Circuit at Pasir Laba Camp.

LTC Mohd Yusoff Bin Nur, Head of the Malaysian delegation, was particularly impressed with the driver training system used by the SAF. Both the DTSS and SAFDC complement each other to train skilled and confident drivers for the SAF, he said.

This year's exercise - the 21st in the series - was held from 23 Nov to 2 Dec. About 65 personnel from the CSS Command, the Army Logistics Training Institute and 1st Guards Battalion participated in the exercise along with 260 CSS personnel from the FPDA nations.

Formed in 1971, the FPDA is an important part of the regional security architecture, and the SAF is a regular participant in FPDA exercises.

The next edition - Exercise Suman Warrior 2011 - will be hosted by the UK.