GAME ON AT EXERCISE WALLABY 2010

The venue for the perfect battle is set with the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) air and land platforms primed to make their move on "enemy forces" at Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) in Queensland, Australia. With main players, Apache AH-64 helicopters, F-16 fighter aircraft and Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer, Primus, ready to strike, the atmosphere is thick with anticipation. This is Exercise Wallaby 2010.

Featuring a myriad of sensor, weapon and manoeuvre platforms culminating in an integrated live-firing on 19 Nov, the assets and men involved in the exercise showcased the true prowess of the networked and integrated strike capabilities of the 3rd Generation SAF.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean, who visited SWBTA on 19 Nov to witness the live-firing, said the training at SWBTA provided many opportunities for the SAF to operationalise new systems and capabilities as well as fully utilise the vast land space available.

On the benefits of training overseas in areas like SWBTA, Mr Teo said: "In Singapore, our men can learn the basics to get the fundamentals right. However, they don t have the same kind of space and they don t have the same kind of challenges that come from unfamiliar terrain."

He added that Singapore may be too familiar in terms of terrain. Hence, soldiers could really benefit from overseas training in areas such as SWBTA "to encounter real distances, different conditions and uncertainties which they have not faced within Singapore".

On the value of Exercise Wallaby to the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), including the Ground Base Air Defence in supporting land assets, Air Exercise Director Colonel (COL) Chew Chee Mun said: "SWBTA is the perfect training ground for the pilots as it allows for more realism and increases our ability to simulate real operations. The larger airspace also gives us more freedom and room to drill through the operational processes and cover all angles for seamless execution. In the end, this will greatly aid in our ability to operate seamlessly with the Army and land counterparts."

Explaining the objectives of this year's exercise, Brigadier General (BG) Chan Wing Kai, the Exercise Director, said: "We want to take this opportunity to apply and hone our combined arms operations, be it in artillery, armour or infantry units. In addition, we also want to sharpen our command and control processes to hone our air-land capabilities. This can be achieved by working closely with the RSAF for air support."

BG Chan added that the exercise should serve to bring out battlefield creativity and challenge the men to think on their feet to overcome problems and uncertainties.

"Most of the exercise scenarios are unscripted, which allows the men more room for free play. As such, there could be many permutations and combinations of a solution to a single problem," He added.

Exercise Wallaby not only provides an opportunity to operationalise new capabilities but also allows the troops to improve on existing ones.

National Service (NS) Brigade Commander COL Ong Jia Jun said that National Servicemen (NSmen) who took part in Exercise Wallaby saw it as a chance to maintain their operational readiness.

"These NSmen do dry runs in Singapore but have not physically executed the scenarios. Exercises such as this one enables them to strategise and execute their plans," said COL Ong, adding that the different scenarios helped to challenge the men both mentally and physically.

"This forces them to think both creatively and critically, forcing them to continually assess the situation, stretching their operational perimeters, and keeping them up to date with the ways of the 3rd Generation SAF," he said.

Exercise Wallaby 2010 takes place over 65 days, from 24 Sep to 26 Nov. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of SAF training in SWBTA. The SAF has come a long way since 1990, with significant milestones and valuable lessons learnt along the way.

The 20th year of SAF training in SWBTA is testament to the strong and long-standing defence ties between Singapore and Australia. In addition, the SAF and the Australian Defence Force interact extensively through multilateral training exercises, visits, professional exchanges, military courses and work in close partnership in the multinational reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.