MISSING HOME AND FAMILY FOR EXERCISE WALLABY

Amidst the rumble of the tanks and troops taking part in the annual Exercise Wallaby at Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Rockhampton, Australia was this group of Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers.

They might not have fired a Hellfire missile, nor driven the armoured fighting vehicles to practise their battalion tactical movement.

But without them, the exercise might not have been able to proceed so smoothly. Head of SAF Centre for Military Experimentation (SCME) Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Mervyn Cheah was one of them.

He leads the team of engineers involved in developing Smart and Composable Operational Picture Environment (SCOPE) , a new software that allows users to choose their desired forms of visualisation and customise their own situational maps.

Spending more than a month in Rockhampton, LTC Cheah admitted to cyberpioneer that the Internet was very important to him as he could communicate with his family using messaging programs like Yahoo! Messenger.

"My daughter misses me most," he said. But despite missing his family and not being able to see his two children, LTC Cheah agreed that such sacrifices were necessary.

Explained LTC Cheah: "Duty, honour and country come first. Our families will understand."

Like LTC Cheah, Staff Sergeant (SSG) Toh Poh Geok from the 120th Squadron (120 SQN) also depended on the Internet to keep in touch with her family.

She was thankful to the owner of the motel, where the squadron was staying, for setting up the Internet connection.

"My husband and I keep in touch via email, MSN Messenger or by SMS," said the senior technician, who would be spending close to three months in Rockhampton.

"Exercise Wallaby is a rare and good opportunity for us to participate in. We've got to make some small sacrifices."
Agreeing with SSG Toh was Second Sergeant (2SG) Ong Yong Sheng, a Dedicated Crew Chief with the 143rd Squadron (143 SQN).

He said: "These sacrifices are necessary. Plus this is a learning opportunity to see how the other operators work. Back home, we are all in different air bases."

But 2SG Ong not only missed his family and loved ones; there was something else he missed very much.

Quipped 2SG Ong: "I miss Singapore food the most. Singapore food is the best!"