STRENGTHENING HADR CAPABILITIES AT EX SUMAN PROTECTOR

Civic-military cooperation was an important feature of this year's Exercise Suman Protector, a major Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) joint planning exercise involving the armed forces from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

About 400 participants from the five FPDA member nations came together to plan conventional operations at the combined joint task force level, as well as responses to a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) scenario.

For the first time, non-governmental organisations were included in the HADR scenario. This helped to strengthen the FPDA's capabilities in handling such scenarios, said Exercise Director Brigadier-General (BG) Lim Hock Yu.

Held at the Changi Command and Control (C2) Centre, the command post exercise concluded its 17-day run on 24 Oct.

Comparing Exercise Suman Protector to a coalition operation where partners from different countries work together, BG Lim said the exercise had two objectives: to be professionally enriching and to strengthen the espirit de corp of the FPDA nations.

"With full cooperation from (the participants), this exercise was a great success," he added. BG Lim is Commander of the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) Headquarters Army Training and Doctrine Command.

For First Admiral (FADM) Dato' Mohamad Adib Bin Abdul Samad, Commander of the exercise's maritime component command, one of his key takeaways was the opportunity to apply JMAP (Joint Military Appreciation Process) in the HADR scenario. JMAP is a logical decision making process designed to help develop the most appropriate plan of action.

"For most of us, it is the first time we're putting JMAP into practice for HADR. But what s most important is the interactions that we have among the different forces and nations, the networking that we established and making new friends," said FADM Adib, who is Chief of Staff of the Royal Malaysian Navy Fleet Operational Command.

Describing his exercise experience as an excellent one, Air Commodore Michael Bennett said: "This (Changi C2 Centre) is probably the best facility I've been to for an exercise like this."

"In a lot of these exercises, people are separated geographically. (But) when we get together... and there's an issue, you can talk (directly to each other) and get different perspectives."

Air Commodore Bennett is Director General, Strategy and Planning of the Royal Australian Air Force. He was also the Commander of Exercise Suman Protector's Air Component Command.

On what has been achieved through this year's exercise, Commander Headquarters Combined Joint Task Force BG Chia Choon Hoong said: "We've been able to learn a lot more about how FPDA can function, should function and potentially should focus on functioning in the future."

He also shared how the multinational participants formed friendships over Singaporean food like satay and chilli crabs which, in turn, facilitated the discussions that took place during the exercise.

The Chief Infantry Officer and Commander 9th Division said: "People were chipping in with ideas, recommendations and proposals... and that's a manifestation of the kind of friendships, cooperation and the camaraderie that exists between the nations."

Hosted by Singapore, this year's Exercise Suman Protector is the second in the series. The first was conducted in Malaysia's Butterworth Air Force Base in 2007.