8,000 soldiers take part in largest mob exercise since 1985

SINGAPORE — For the first time, full-time national servicemen (NSFs) and regulars from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) took on a simulated terror threat alongside police officers as part of a mobilisation and equipping exercise.

In the early hours of Saturday (Jan 27), about 400 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment (3 SIR), and police officers responded to a scenario involving gunmen who opened fire at the Singapore Sports Hub in Kallang. They were joined by security officers from the sports and lifestyle complex.

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The exercise — which spanned Friday and Saturday — saw a total of 8,000 active and operationally ready national servicemen (NSmen) from the 9th Singapore Division and its assigned units taking part. Seven hundred vehicles were involved.

It is said to be the biggest known mobilisation exercise since 1985. Some of the units involved in the latest exercise included 3 SIR, the 3rd Battalion, Singapore Guards, and the 790th Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment.

The SAF conducts between 20 and 30 mobilisation and equipping exercises yearly, with an average turnout of more than 95 per cent. The number of servicemen activated varies.

As part of Saturday's homeland-security exercise at the Sports Hub, soldiers from 3 SIR were activated to support the response by the police after reports of gunfire.

Apart from setting up vehicle access-control points, or roadblocks, to manage traffic going into and exiting the affected area, the soldiers also carried out cordon-and-search operations with police and Sports Hub security officers.

After detecting a culprit armed with a knife during a search as the National Stadium was evacuated, the soldiers, police and security officers worked together to quash the threat. At the nearby OCBC Arena, two armed men were brought down by the soldiers.

"The exercise is part of on-going efforts by the SAF and the Home Team to test and validate Singapore's multi-agency response plan in the event of terrorist attacks," the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a press statement, adding that the exercise also seeks to promote continued vigilance among the public.

Holding the exercise in an iconic spot such as the Sports Hub reinforces the soldiers' "commitment and conviction to make sure Singapore is safe and secure", said Brigadier-General (BG) Ng Ying Thong, 45, the Army's assistant chief of the general staff (operations).

BG Ng said NSmen who are trained to carry out homeland-security duties could be deployed for such exercises in future.

Corporal Gabriel Chua, 19, an infantry trooper with 3 SIR who participated in the exercise, said the biggest difference was that soldiers normally train away from the public eye. "Rather than being in the middle of the jungle or somewhere else where the public doesn't normally get to see us… it's something that we need to adapt and adjust to," said the NSF.

Second Lieutenant (2LT) Syahir Ally Sa'ari, 25, a platoon commander with the battalion, said the scenarios were "quite realistic" as they were outside the soldiers' expectations. For instance, his troopers found an explosive during checks on a vehicle. "That shows how ready and prepared (we) are," the NSF said.

Saturday's exercise is the latest in the on-going partnership between the SAF and the Home Team in working more closely in the fight against terrorism.

The SAF and police, for instance, carry out joint training to enhance "inter-operability and familiarity" between the two forces, Mindef and the Ministry of Home Affairs said previously. They also hold regular joint exercises to test and validate their operational responses to a terrorist attack. Such joint exercises and training would continue, the two ministries had said.

The mobilisation and equipping exercise also saw NSmen recalled to Selarang Camp near Loyang to be kitted out with weapons and equipment, and go through refresher training on soldiering fundamentals.

Speaking to reporters after visiting Selarang Camp on Saturday evening, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said: "It's very impressive that when we set out a silent mobilisation for 8,000 men, even by a few hours, we have already chalked up 80 to 90 per cent of men reporting."

When asked about future plans for joint training between the SAF and police, Dr Ng said he was pleased with the tie-up.

“It’s not only at the most basic level of joint patrols, but it’s also sometimes, more importantly, the command-and-control settings, the joint planning (and) understanding. Multiple levels of combined exercises are conducted quite regularly at the highest levels as well as down to the units ... That’s progressing quite well,” he said. 

At the camp, Dr Ng visited the enhanced One-Stop Mobilisation and Equipping Centre.

The four-storey facility houses self-service kiosks that prune the time taken by NSmen to be processed for mobilisation exercises and humidity-controlled storage facilities where equipment and vehicles are kept. It brings these improvements under one roof for the first time.