LEARNING ABOUT OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN

Since 2007, more than 400 servicemen and women from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) have been deployed to Afghanistan, and the commendations these soldiers have received from the coalition partners are a strong testament of their professionalism, competence and commitment.

Chief of Army Major-General (MG) Ravinder Singh made this comment in his closing address at the Army Overseas Operations Learning Symposium on 31 Jan.

Held at the Leaders' Hall in Pasir Laba Camp, the symposium included presentations by servicemen on their experiences operating in Afghanistan as part of a coalition. Participants at the symposium numbered around 300, comprising mainly regulars from the SAF.

Noting that the symposium provided the opportunity to continue operational learning and development in the Army and in the SAF, MG Singh said: "As a learning organisation, it is important that we learn from operations as quickly as possible, crystallise them into actionable knowledge and share this with the rest of the SAF."

Colonel (COL) Wong Yu Han from the SAF, who was deployed as the National Contingent Commander in Kabul, Afghanistan from May to October last year, was one of the presenters. He spoke on the command and control challenges in an operational environment, the SAF's contributions in Afghanistan and the threats faced by personnel deployed in theatre.

The other presenters were Commander of Combined Team Uruzgan COL Robert Akam from the United States Army, who shared about operating in a coalition environment and defeating insurgency, and founder of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies in Afghanistan Mr Hekmat Karzai, who provided an Afghan perspective on the current situation in his country.

Besides these presentations, the symposium featured a question-and-answer (Q&A) session with the presenters, as well as focus group presentations by servicemen previously deployed to Afghanistan. Examples of topics discussed at the focus groups include cultural sensitivity and soldier fundamentals.

One participant, Captain Zaw Win Naing, a Section Head in Headquarters Army Training and Doctrine Command, considered the symposium an eye-opener as he has yet to be deployed to Afghanistan.

He explained: "There were a lot of useful insights when the presenters shared their experiences in theatre. It helps to serve as background knowledge if I'm ever deployed, and also gives us an idea of how to better train our guys to handle the challenges in deployment."

Even for those who have had prior deployment experiences in Afghanistan, the sessions still proved beneficial.

Said Machine Gun Commander from Headquarters Guards 1st Sergeant (1SG) Muhammad Ashik, who was part of the Weapon Locating Radar deployment in 2010: "The sessions helped me to see deployments from the perspective of senior leadership, to see the big picture."

He added: "With this in mind, I can better understand the purpose of our mission in Afghanistan during future deployments, and how the small things we do ultimately contribute to the progress of the Afghan people."

This is the first time a symposium was held to discuss issues pertaining specifically to the SAF's contributions in Afghanistan. In May 2009, the SAF held an Army Operations Seminar, which involved discussions about the SAF's overseas missions in general.

From left: Panellists COL Akam, Mr Karzai, moderator COL Lee Heok Chye and COL Wong fielding questions from the audience during the Q&A session after the presentations.