MORE EXPECTED FROM SOLDIERS IN TODAY S SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

Competence in missions such as counter-insurgency and humanitarian assistance; being deployed at short notice to faraway places and having to navigate sensitive racial, religious and cultural practices; finding new ways to connect with and train a younger and more educated generation.

That is the changing profile of the military professional in the 21st century security environment, said Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen at the 14th Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers, held at the Sentosa Resort and Spa, on 7 Aug.

Dr Ng's opening address kick-started the six-day conference organised by the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). This year's theme is The Military Professional in the 21st Century Security Environment.

Citing examples of transnational threats such as piracy, natural disasters and cyber-attacks that have come to characterise today's norm, Dr Ng, who was the keynote speaker, said these were the reasons the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) deployed military personnel to Afghanistan and the Gulf of Aden, for not just one, but several rotations, a scenario unimaginable before.

"Such deployments of the SAF in remote places thousands of kilometres away, in unfamiliar terrain, and with complex mission requirements are stark illustrations of the heightened expectations placed upon the military professional in the 21st century," Dr Ng said.

Speaking to more than 50 military officers from 23 countries, Dr Ng identified the key challenges confronting today's military establishments, such as enhancing existing, or creating new, approaches and institutions to ensure regional stability and understanding social media and how it can shape views and beliefs.

Dr Ng said one of the ways the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces had responded to these changes was by establishing an open and inclusive regional security architecture.

The ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus, which has brought together the 10 ASEAN countries and eight extra-regional partners for dialogues on a range of security issues as well as Expert Working Groups in areas such as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine are examples of such a regional security architecture.

To connect to the younger and more technologically-savvy generation, Dr Ng said MINDEF and the SAF were also undergoing a mini-revolution in training and pedagogy, which focuses on a more learner-centric way of teaching cadets and trainees.

Recounting an example from his visit to an SAF training institution, Dr Ng said: "Our training institutions bought the little cameras used in extreme sports, mounted them on helmets and put it on all the commanders. So after every exercise, (the footages were) played back from different perspectives it was amazing how serious training got.

"I think we are on a cusp of some kind of revolution... we're utilising these tools that the young are already used to. It's their ambient environment in our schools. We have invested in simulation, Web technology, in multimedia to infuse our training and more seriously, our weapon systems so that it enhances our soldiers' experiential learning."

Over the next few days, both local and international subject matter experts will share their perspectives on issues such as the changing roles of the military professional, the legal and ethical dimensions of the new operating environment, the future of warfare, and information and social media technologies in military operations.

They include Professor Sir Steve Smith, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Exeter, Brigadier-General (Ret) Gurmeet Kanwal, Director of the US' Centre for Land Warfare Studies, Professor Christopher Coker from the London School of Economics and Professor Iwan Azis from RSIS.

As part of the programme, participants will also attend the National Day Parade, visit the Navy's Information Fusion Centre and go on a tour around Singapore.