Now that the last Singaporean soldier has returned home from Afghanistan, questions may be rightly posed whether Singapore's longest and most diverse military mission overseas was necessary, worthwhile and appreciated.
On all three counts, the answer should be resoundingly affirmative.
That six-year mission, codenamed Operation Blue Ridge (OBR), was born of necessity.
Singapore has deployed the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) on overseas operations across the globe on many occasions in previous years. What changed the tenor of OBR from just another international obligation to a mission of national necessity was the awareness among all who planned, executed or supported the mission that projecting carefully calibrated military capabilities to that war-torn land made a telling contribution to the safety and security of our homeland.
The video of Singapore street scenes that surfaced in Afghanistan was recognised by security and intelligence professionals here that our island nation had popped up in the sphere of consciousness of unknown authors who were compiling a dossier of destruction.
That single video, a reconnaissance run by bumbling amateurs since rounded up in Singapore by relentless counter-intelligence operatives, was recognised as a possible precursor to sinister exports from their Afghanistan safe haven. This was a direct threat against our homeland that was credible. But like a slow growing tumour, did not represent an immediate danger as it was discovered at an early stage.
We had two choices: sit back and let the cancer grow or take decisive and aggressive action at source.
Disruptive influence
Afghanistan's safe haven status was built upon chaos, thrived on fear and was sustained by robbing native Afghans of their dignity and right to lifestyle needs many people take for granted such as access to fresh water, basic education for all children and healthcare.
Any disruptive influence Singapore could exert on that safe haven would put a dampener on the time, energy and resources the syndicate of destruction could spend on hatching their dark deeds in our Lion City. With the proverbial knife to their throat from an intentional assembly of warfighters called into action post 9/11, these unfriendly elements had to fight for their survival in their erstwhile safe haven - thereby buying Singapore precious time needed to strengthen homeland security and build up security awareness among citizens ushered into the new normal.
Each of the 2,263 days that the SAF spent in-theatre in Afghanistan made a convincing demonstration that as far as the peace and security of Singapore is concerned, there is no distance too far, no operation too long that the SAF cannot or is not prepared to undertake to defend the Lion City.
Singapore's national flag, proudly flown on flag staffs in all areas in which our warfighters were deployed - Camp Kiwi in Bamiyan, Camp Holland in Oruzgan, Camp Alamo in Kabul, Camp Baker in Kandahar - during those six long years made a telling statement of our resolve that we would settle the account with anyone, anywhere who hatched plots against Singapore's citizens.
Time and distance was no barrier; an alien area of operations a poor deterrent.
As OBR has shown, the SAF will come and find you and deal with you on your doorstep, in your own backyard however far you may be and for however long it may take.
Every hand of help provided by the SAF to Afghans represented a disruptive influence to the safe haven status that devious minds once enjoyed. Individual efforts contributed to the sum total of goodwill built up over six years - almost as long as the Second World War - and helped countless Afghans regain their honour and dignity in their daily lives.
Indeed, OBR stretched over so many Afghan winters that MINDEF's senior management who were there to send off the first contingent were all replaced by the time the last three SAF personnel arrived home from OBR at 3pm last Friday (19 July). That the size, scope and complexity of the SAF's involvement grew during the leadership transitions (DM and Service chiefs) says a lot about the resilience of the system in sustaining the effort, over long range (5,221 km SIN to A-stan), over the long run (2,263 days) and under hostile fire (just ask 24 SA).
Mission accomplishments
According to post-mission analysis furnished by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and SAF, the 492 warfighters accomplished much while facing many security challenges and had zero casualties while shouldering the mission in a harsh and hitherto unknown AO.
Our military medicine expertise introduced Afghans to advanced clinical and dental treatments - indeed many Afghan patients had never sat in a dental chair before the SAF came a-calling.
Our combat engineers reoriented military construction expertise to improve communications by rebuilding land links like bridges and culverts, thereby improving Mobility for the locals. Their advice on battlefield fortifications led to the construction of shell- and rocket-proof shelters that enhanced the Survivability of SAF personnel and equipment deployed for OBR.
The ARTillery HUnting Radars from the 24th Battalion Singapore Artillery (24 SA) that rolled into action lived up to their name by providing precious additional seconds' worth of early warning 27 times against incoming tube/rocket artillery fire. Our gunners achieved a 100% success rate and overcame technical challenges in keeping the radar system cool in Afghanistan's sweltering summers that the Arthur's Swedish designers had not designed the system to cope with.
Sensor fusion and network-enabled concepts so fancily depicted during SAF Work Plan seminars were thrown into a combat zone where SAF intelligence planners, imagery analysis teams and UAV teams had no illusions about the price of mission failure.
Quiet professionals, Learning Organisation
That OBR had an almost storybook ending, a made-for-movie conclusion belies intense yet low-key efforts made by MINDEF/SAF and our security and intelligence community to come to grips with an AO that our staff colleges did not train SAF warfighters for.
Pictures that chronicle OBR from its earliest deployments speak volumes of the SAF as a learning organisation.
Soldiers sent for OBR in 2007 wore the SAF Number 4 uniform whose tropical camouflage pattern made them stand out rather than blend in while in Afghanistan's arid landscape. Commercial sports jackets were worn during cold weather, making the SAF contingent look like a motley crew in various stages of fancy dress hastily assembled for a war zone deployment.
The desert Tiger stripe camouflage uniform soon replaced the Number 4 which we are all familiar with. Later deployments saw SAF warfighters dressed in pixellated camouflage fatigues that helped our Army blend in with their new operating environment. It was plainly evident that ops-tech integration, the conversation between Army analysts who scrutinised post-deployment AAR notes from early OBR alumni and our defence science community had taken place and borne results.
Our defence science community lent a low-profile yet reassuring hand to projects that added mission essential equipment to SAF war machines. Pictures of Singapore Army combat vehicles and air force transports deployed in-theatre provide telling hints of new SAF capabilities in mitigating threats posed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and MANPADS. The contributions from these quiet professionals is indeed reassuring.
Air bridge
As all this was going on, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was acutely aware it had to sustain the logistics trail - the air bridge - that stretched from the Army Logistics Base in Lim Chu Kang, Murai Camp, Nee Soon Camp and Dieppe Barracks and other areas all the way to Afghanistan.
RSAF C-130 Hercules tactical airlifters from 122 Squadron were employed on strategic airlift missions from Paya Lebar Air Base all the way to dusty runways in Afghanistan, with the final approach made on an unusually steep glide slope with defensive aids on full alert for threat of attack by MANPADs and with aircrew in body armour and personal side arms within reach.
If one ever needed to see the contrast between peace and war, the flight from Singapore to an Afghan airport provided a striking dissimilarity that few who experienced it will easily forget. Each round trip to Afghanistan and back saw 122 SQN aircrew travel more than 10,000 km. Our RSAF airmen maintained the air bridge successfully, routinely all these years despite the perils that awaited them at journey's end.
On home ground, every SAF serviceman, every family member of OBR personnel made a telling contribution to the sustainment effort too. Our Physical Training Instructors, typically hated by BMT recruits, were instrumental in getting OBR candidates in fine fettle before their war zone deployment.
Our Medical Corps turned every OBR candidate into a first-responder, a quasi medic who helped backstop the professional expertise that real SAF medics brought to the AO.
Logisticians who were the start point on the long supply chain kept the business end of OBR as a going concern. Without them packing the right thing and sending it at the right time to the right AFPN number, OBR would not have lasted as long as it did.
It suffices to say that when you take on a Singaporean soldier, you take on the entire defence eco-system that stands solidly behind our fighting men and women, giving them a capability over match, moral, psychological, logistical and familial support so necessary in winning the fight decisively.
And when all else fails, in comes our defence science expertise which throws in all the bells and whistles that underline what our defence budget investments have been spent on these past decades. OBR has shown that when it comes to real ops, the SAF warfighter will appear on scene with a capability over match that gives each soldier the best chance at mission success, a fighting chance at taking it as well as dishing it out.
That takedown isn't impossible - assuming you fight according to the rules of civilised warfare. But the price the SAF will make you pay for each hit it takes will likely be high, if not prohibitively so. The war material the SAF brought to OBR to help the contingent fight and survive in a war zone underlines this point.
Despite the facts and figures MINDEF trots out to show what OBR has achieved, the threat from hostile elements whether in Afghanistan or elsewhere has not receded.
The cancers to national security still exist. Continued vigilance is the new normal that every Singaporean has to adjust to.
Standing guard, ever watchful 24/365 even as you read this is the Singapore Armed Forces. Unflagging in its resolve, unfailing in its loyalty, untiring in its mission wherever the threat(s) may stem from.
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