Outfield support for 2SIR

For the whole of this week, I was attached out to help 2SIR in their mock up ATEC in preparation for the real thing in end August. The purpose is to test the proficiency of the Battalion in preparation when war does happen. It was a large scale exercise which involves a whole of manpower and logistics. The actual exercise started on Tue and end on Thu evening. It consists from the planning up to the execution stage.

Tuesday
Arrive in Amoy Quee camp awaiting for the start of the exercise. It started off quite late at around 4pm before we move out to the next area at Lim Chu Kang. I was last minute appointed the Safety Team 2 OIC. At 12am (Wed), we set off to the Singapore Shooting Club to cover the Safety.

Wednesday
At 2am, we move off to Lim Chu Kang Training shed and to ATC (Amour Training center) training shed. We end the morning at the ATC for breakfast and rest. At 11am, we moved off to the E-Shaped knoll at Lim Chu Kang to cover safety for the heli-lift of the troopers. The troopers landed at 2pm for the next objective. It was also my first time seeing the heli-landing of troopers in such a training ground.

We cover the next area at Lam Keong area where troops will be landing at 7pm. This time the Chinooks will be arriving in frames to transport all the 2SIR personnel to the landing site. It was a breathtaking sight as one by one, the Chinooks landed and personnel from the Chinooks just ran out and took cover at the vegetation. After the landing, my teams proceed to the Singapore Shooting Club area to cover safety for the ongoing troopers heading towards their actual mission area. By then I was activated as there was already 9 casualties. We ferried them back to the admin area to rest.

Thursday
Sleep was only a occasionally nap that all because we need to cover safety whenever the troopers proceed towards their objectives. During this period of time till the next morning, they will be fighting a attack mission and followed by a hasty defense mission in the day. The exercise was cut at 4pm.

Lessons learnt during the exercise:
1) I didn't the chance to Reece the area before the exercise so therefore I nearly got lost in the forest. Map must be a must if not sure got lost.

This really gives a very good experience on how a battalion exercise was conducted as this large scale exercise doesn’t come by easily.

Out