POSTING PEAK PERFORMANCES - THE SAF'S FINEST

The annual SAF Best Unit Competition is keenly contested as units strive for the highest honour to be the finest in the SAF in combat readiness, operational excellence and administrative efficiency. PIONEER visits this year's elite forces to reveal their winning formulae.

A winning tradition 1st Commando Battalion (1 Cdo Bn)

Clinching the Best Combat Unit award for a record 19 times, coming up tops in the competition has become a tradition of sorts for the Red Berets.

"For us, to be able to defend the title is to live up to what our Commando predecessors and other people expected us to do," said 1 Cdo Bn's Commanding Officer, LTC Luis Phay.

"It is difficult to live up to the expectations because our predecessors have left such a good record behind. So the challenge is always there to live up to it," he said.

LTC Phay (left) added that the men were hungry for the title and what made the win even more special was the stiff competition they faced from some of the Infantry and Guards units.

So what exactly gives them the edge over their competitors?

Sheer tenacity and esprit-de-corps among the men, said CPL Sakthi, a Full-time National Serviceman (NSF) with the battalion.

"Our never-say-die attitude, the willingness to finish our missions no matter what, and the fact that when something is put ahead of us, we push each other and ourselves personally and physically - knowing that at the end of the day, the objective depends on us reaching there and completing it," he said.

"Being the best is something that everybody wants to be, so being the Best Combat Unit is the objective and the achievement every year for us, so it is no different this year, too."

For 3SG Ho Shi Xian, also an NSF with 1 Cdo Bn, what motivates him to push on is simply the red beret they all don with pride.

"It signifies our motto 'For honour and glory'. These are four powerful words that drive us," he said.

Forward, Team Blackites 144 Squadron

LTC Pek Hong Hwa (left), the Commanding Officer of 144 Squadron, feels investing in 'software' is the way to go.

"The 'software', our people, have the dedication, the professionalism, and the full commitment in wanting to be the best. That in itself won us the title," he said.

"Of course technology will help, but it is still ultimately the people behind the machines that matter," he added.

Putting his words into action, LTC Peh makes it a point to tell his men, who operate the upgraded F-5S/T, the purpose of their job, in order to give meaning to what they are doing.

"Once they understand the aim, the objective and the meaning in whatever role they play, be it big orsmall, they will go all out. Without you watching from the back, they will give their best," he said.

His men have certainly repaid his faith in kind, by clinching the Best Hotshot Squadron award in 2003 and 2004 at the annual weaponry competition, Exercise Hotshot.

This year, they captured the coveted Best Fighter Squadron award. The win was long-awaited as it is exactly a decade since their last win.

Dedicated Crew Chief, 1SG Ricky Ignatius Morier, who has been with the squadron for five years, is delighted with the win and aims to work with his fellow comrades from Team Blackites a name the squadron adopted after their mascot, the Blackite bird to keep the title for as long as they possibly can.

"Winning the title is a hard task in itself, but maintaining it and being consistent is a even harder task. That is what my team plans to do - to maintain the title for another year or two, or perhaps, if we can, all the way," he said.

Pilot, LTA Malcolm Roy Pinto (left), feels that, with their commitment and dedication, the squadron can nab both awards - Best Hotshot Squadron and Best Fighter Squadron next year.

"It is a lot of work, throughout the entire year, you see all of us prepping up, we do a lot of exercises, operational tests and all that," he said.

"For many of us, our work is our life. And if you live that way, then achieving the awards in the long term is quite easy actually, because you are willing to give whatever it takes to get to where you want to go," he added.

Keeping the peace with family RSS Resolution

While participating in coalition maritime operations in support of the post-war reconstruction of Iraq, what kept 2SG Amy Lim (left), RSS Resolution's Communications Specialist, going during the four-month deployment to the North Arabian Gulf was the close-knit family she had on board.

"We have a caring 'father' like our Coxswain - he is actually in charge of all our welfare and a motivated group of people. Definitely there were times out there, especially those two weeks in theatre, when we were feeling very down as
homesickness kicked in."

"We tried to motivate each other and that was what kept us going," she said.

Coxswain, 2WO Harpajan Singh (left), said the unity of the crew is what sets RSS Resolution apart from the rest.

"The people are great. They work as a team, they work as a family, and they help each other. They never say 'no' to anything," he said.

"There was one operation, when we were called back and given a couple of hours to sail out, we got 100 per cent of the crew. Just a phone call and everybody was back and we were out within a couple of hours," he added.

With such strong bonds, it is no wonder the 141-metre long Landing Ship Tank (LST) has been named Best Ship - a first for the Endurance-class LST since it was commissioned five years ago.

Commanding Officer of RSS Resolution, LTC Lee Swee Ann (left), was proud of his men and felt that this win reaffirms their belief that the LSTs are comparable with other ships in the RSN.

"Over the past five years, the LSTs have participated in numerous peacetime operations. We were on the peacekeeping operation in the Gulf while our sister ships participated in Ops Flying Eagle."

"The crews onboard the LSTs, including the Resolution, knew that we have the capability and we are on par with the other ships," he said.

"While the Best Ship award was not exactly our objective, we know that we have to keep up a high standard of operational readiness to fulfil our peacetime missions. And that actually is a key factor in keeping the crew motivated."

"Winning the Best Ship award is really a bonus that we got this year," said LTC Lee.

Micromanaging men - 466th Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment (466 SAR)

Going back for In-camp Training even though your wife is pregnant unheard of?

That is exactly what CPT (NS) Jason Kwok, S2 of 466 SAR, did last year when he joined his unit for the evaluation exercise even though his wife was expecting their second child.

"That kind of commitment is something way beyond the call of duty," recalled his Commanding Officer, LTC Quek Kall Leong.

This cohesion and camaraderie that exist among the men and throughout the ranks have helped garner it the Best NS Armour Unit.

According to LTC Quek (right), the unit has been together for over 10 years and it is all due to the will of the people to pull together to solve whatever problems that arise.

To motivate the NS unit, LTC Quek believes in 'micro-managing' the special needs of his men.

"For example, instead of giving them a deferment for the whole In-camp, you can actually speak to them and find out their requirement and needs and then you can micro-manage by giving them one or two days off to go and settle their outside work problems and so on."

"Then they can come back and still be committed to the work," he explained.

Unit S3, MAJ (NS) Henry Goh, added that the key appointment holders also try to have informal sessions with the men after training hours in the bunks and in the mess to lend an ear to each other's problems.

"As far as possible, we try to make our training and the In-camp a positive experience. We try to understand and appreciate their work commitments," he said.

"And all this somehow filters down to the ground and the men talk among themselves that the key appointment holders really care for them."

"This sort of thing is actually a form of motivation and it becomes a positive experience, rather than a process of just coming back for In-camp," he added.