STUDENTS GET A VIRTUAL FEEL OF ARMY TRAINING

Since August, over 1,300 students from secondary schools, institutes of technical education, junior colleges and polytechnics have been experiencing the fun side of army life - through a game called Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2).

To engage youths and help them learn about defence and National Service, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education is organising the first National Education (NE) Gaming Championships this year.

Sixty-nine teams from 40 schools have signed up to compete in VBS2, a PC-based virtual simulation training software used by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to train soldiers.

To prepare the students for the competition, the teams have to undergo three training sessions from August to October before participating in the preliminaries. During these sessions, they will learn how the game is played, as well as the weaponry and networked capabilities of the 3rd Generation Army.

In a team of 19, the players are armed in the game with assets such as unmanned aerial vehicles, battlefield robots and soldiers to attack or defend two buildings against an opposing team.

According to Rishi Varman, a Secondary One student from Raffles Institution, VBS2 is not just your typical shooting game.

"The game requires a lot of strategy. We have to come up with various plans of attack and defence in order to win," he said, adding that his team gathers after each training session to fine-tune their strategies.

Fellow participant Loi Yong Hwee, who is in the second year of his Diploma in Clean Energy course in Singapore Polytechnic, appreciates the realism of the game.

"I get to try out weapons which I will most likely be using when I enlist in future... And unlike other shooting games which only require two seconds to reload a gun, VBS2 takes into consideration the actual amount of time a soldier needs to reload his weapon."

When asked the most important attribute to win the game, Rishi said: "Teamwork."

"There has to be a leader who gives clear instructions and thinks ahead for the team, and those who are followers need to support the team whenever reinforcements are needed, otherwise it'll be very messy."

Second-year Electrical and Electronic Engineering student of Singapore Polytechnic Shi Bohan agreed, saying: "This game is not about acting alone and playing the hero. It's about working as a team and maintaining good communications with one another."

The top 32 teams will face off in the finals held from 24 to 27 Nov at the D'Marquee ballroom in Downtown East. The champion team will walk away with $3,000, a Challenge trophy, a school trophy and medals for each team member.