SAF CO-HOSTS MULTINATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS EXERCISE

Singapore co-hosted a multinational communications interoperability exercise, codenamed Pacific Endeavour, together with the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), from 16 to 27 Aug.

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) had taken part in the annual exercise since 2005 but this was the first time it was held at the Multinational Operations and Exercises Centre in the Republic of Singapore Navy's Changi Command and Control Centre.

The aim of the exercise was to enhance interoperability between participating nations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the international humanitarian community in order to enable greater collaboration on communication systems for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Brigadier-General (BG) Lee Shiang Long, Head Joint Communications and Information Systems (JCIS) and advisor to the exercise organising committee, noted that other than establishing a communications interoperability platform through information-sharing, an important element of the exercise was the fostering of personal ties between the participants.

"One of the key elements in any operation is the people. During the exercise, I got to know BG Brett Williams (Director for Communications System, USPACOM), as well as my counterparts in many countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Thailand. The relationships built here will be very useful for future operations," BG Lee said.

These sentiments were echoed by the exercise participants themselves. Sergeant Lizana Muir from the New Zealand Air Force said: "It has been a good experience learning about how different nations work."

The exercise highlight was a disaster scenario which simulated an earthquake in Manila, Philippines. Participants were grouped by experience into cells which looked into various areas of the communication response to the scenario, including spectrum management, current and future operations, networks and information assurance.

For Chief Warrant Officer 3 Arthur Deleon from the US Marines, the most important part was "developing the relationships so that we know who the points of contract are and are able to utilise them in a time of need."

This year's exercise saw more than 250 communications experts from the armed forces of 16 Asia-Pacific nations, NGOs, the international humanitarian community and private industry taking part in a series of training workshops, discussions and communication network tests.

Outside of the exercise, the participants enjoyed the hospitality that Singapore can offer. Staff Sergeant Aaron White of the US Marines said: "We had some great food this last weekend - your chilli crab was special! It has been great just trying the food here and seeing the sights."