ROCKHAMPTON, Australia: Second Minister for Defence Ong Ye Kung, who is visiting Singapore troops training in Australia, has expressed confidence in the safety of Exercise Wallaby after the death of a serviceman during the exercise last month.
“The commanders briefed me on the exercise scenarios, the concepts as well as all the safety measures that they have been taking all these years, and they are very thorough,” he said during a visit to the training grounds on Monday (Oct 9).
“For all our commanders here, the mindset of safety is in their culture. So, they have to balance between having realistic, challenging training but at the same time ensuring the safety of all our servicemen.”
Mr Ong preparing to fly off on an Apache Attack Helicopter. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
Mr Ong’s vote of confidence comes after a “fairly comprehensive” briefing with exercise director Brigadier General (BG) Mark Tan earlier in the morning, where the minister fielded a fair amount of questions on the safety of the exercise.
At the conclusion of the briefing, which media attended, Mr Ong told the general: “Okay, good. Keep people assured of the next training we do.”
“What happened to 3rd Sergeant Gavin Chan I think still weighs on the minds of everyone I see here, from the commanders to the men,” Mr Ong later told reporters.
“But at the same time, I saw a very strong determination, commitment and professionalism to carry out these exercises effectively and successfully. That gave me a lot of confidence, notwithstanding setbacks such as this, we will press on and make sure that we defend our country well.”
This year’s exercise, conducted from Sep 3 to Nov 4, involves about 4,000 SAF personnel and 400 platforms from the Singapore Army, the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Navy.
To experience how soldiers defend Singapore, Mr Ong took part in an integrated live firing mission involving Apache helicopters, grenade launchers and a Light Strike Vehicle mounted with a Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missile.
A live firing drill involving the Spike missile. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
He also fired off a Spike missile himself, hitting a target located 1.1km away across a valley, before interacting with servicemen participating in the exercise.
Mr Ong rounded off his experiential stint by going on a 15-minute familiarisation ride on a Bionix Infantry Vehicle, where he participated in an overturn drill as a vehicle commander.
Mr Ong being briefed on how to fire the Spike missile. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
“This is the armoured vehicle 3rd Sergeant Gavin Chan was on when the incident happened,” he said. “I was standing at the vehicle commander position where he was standing, and went through some of the terrain that he would have gone through.”
Back on the topic of safety, Mr Ong said some of the NSFs informed him that their parents were worried after the incident happened, but added that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) “called every one of them” for reassurance.
Mr Ong trying his hand at being the vehicle commander of a Bionix vehicle. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
Nevertheless, he said commanders are “very committed” to ensuring the safety of soldiers, and that includes implementing measures like advance planning, reconnaissance efforts on the ground and drills before every exercise.
“I think regardless of public reaction, this is something internally we have to place a very serious emphasis on,” he added.
“And that is what MINDEF, SAF and all the commanders have taken, and that gives me a very strong impression that nothing’s taken for granted, and safety is paramount even as we pursue realistic training.”
Mr Ong taking a welfie with exercise participants. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
Mr Ng called the balance between pursuing realistic training and ensuring safety a “constant trade-off”, but insisted that it is not impossible to have zero incidents.
“There are always risks involved, but with the right mitigation measures and training, we can reduce it or even eliminate it,” he said. “And that has to be our objective all the time.”
