Saturday, January 1, 2011

Welcome 2011

All indications point to 2010 being the safest year on record with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) closing the year with no training deaths.

This was achieved in a year when SAF personnel were sent for operational deployments in places such as the Gulf of Aden and South Asia.

The tempo of training exercises in Singapore and abroad has also not abated. The SAF staged some 70 war games over the year with a range of multinational partners. These involved everything from HADR and PSO-type scenarios to combat manoeuvres that allowed the SAF to practice, develop and refine its defence readiness in the air, sea, land and electronic spectrums.

As we push into 2011, we also push the boundaries of chance and probability.

Keeping training accidents at bay demands constant safety first reminders and an unflagging commitment by everyone not to be complacent.

Turning to defence activities, the calendar of events for 2011 includes:
15 February: Total Defence Day commemorates the 69th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore
18 February: Budget Day for WY 2011/12
March: Committee of Supply Debate on the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) Budget Estimates for WY 2011/12
1 March: Hari Angkatan Darat (Malaysian Army Day)
27 April: Hari TLDM (Royal Malaysian Navy Day)
17 May: IMDEX 2011 naval show 17 to 19 May'11
28-29 May: Republic of Singapore Air Force Open House @ Paya Lebar Air Base.
1 June: Hari TUDM (Royal Malaysian Air Force Day)
3 - 5 June: 10th Asia Security Summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue.
June: NDP CR1
1 July: SAF Day Parade
9 August: National Day Parade organised by the Singapore Combat Engineers
16 September: Hari Angkatan Tentera Malaysia. Malaysian Armed Forces Day
23 - 25 September: Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix
5 December: Media Preview for LIMA 2011 6 to 10 Dec'11
* 2011 marks the 10th instalment of the Asia Security Summit, which for obvious reasons has never been given an acronym of its own by shorthand loving defence types and is better known as the Shangri-La Dialogue.
The year will also see the 40th anniversary of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA). Large Eks Bersama Lima war games forecast to commemorate the occasion.

There is also a high likelihood of a General Election this year. Debates over defence and security issues raised should be of interest to defence watchers.

I thank everyone for their continued support, especially the community of Milnuts and plane spotters, as well as other interested parties whose guidance, advice and friendship is much appreciated.

Check Six!

7 comments:

goat89 said...

Happy New Year to you too Mr Boey!

FinalFive said...

Having consulted Mani the Serangoon Road fortune telling parakeet, I was advised that the MINDEF speeches will read like this:

Minister's Speech

1. The dangerous world we live in - Key Message - MINDEF/SAF are still in business.
- Rise of North Korea - Conventional war still a likelihood
- Unstable Iraq - Terrorism continues to thrive despite the efforts of the (self-professed) largest military in the world.
- Unrest in Thailand, a quiet Cambodia - It's not all holidays in Southeast Asia too.
- And how can we forget our darling Mas Selamat who brings home to us the threat of terrorism!
- The only way is diplomacy and deterrence (yawn, but true). List of protocols signed this year, list of exercises the SAF participated in, list of inter-ministerial exchanges and handshaking)

BETS: Wikileaks will be spoken about...

2. Key Message - THE 3RD GENERATION SAF - Key message - We spent wisely, and hey, we can afford it just fine even if we didn't.
- We have Eagles, Leopards, Hawks and etc etc. (Probably some new video will be issued in tiny dvds to every parliamentarian).
- They are all IKC2 linked. Stop there. No one's interested in how they REALLY link up. It can be done (that's a fact!)and that's enough.
- But at the heart of it is the SOLDIER... (now shower care and affection on the IKC2 soldier who will faint from heat exhaustion after 1km route march with IKC2 gear on, plus body armour, plus modified Sar21 with grenade launcher and tactical attachments)
- Final blow to blur everyone - DEFENCE TECH ECOSYSTEM!!! DSTA MINDEF SAF collaborate to develop 'right fit' solutions (and sell away our old crap to other countries (like our F-16As and good old Huey helis). So not only we spend wisely, but WE ALSO MAKE BACK!

(Mani fainted at this point... I shall consult him on 2M and MOS speech in a bit.)

xtemujin said...

I thought that there will also be the Army Open House 2011 ?

David Boey said...

FinalFive: PAFF should give you a stand up comedy gig at the next MDC performance on Gombak Hill. The post is hilarious. :-)

xtemujin: This year's open house is for the angkatan udara bro.

xtemujin said...

Yeah, strange that there will be no Army Open House 2011 as far as i know that it is a biannual event, 2007 and 2009.

The MINDEF event website for 2011 is still not updated.

Thanks.

FinalFive said...

Xtemujin: The stage may be set for an SAF Open House given that a tri-service one has never been done. As usual with most SAF things, something that goes up triple the cost may well take triple the time to obtain the necessary approvals.

xtemujin said...

FinalFive:

I doubt that cost will be an issue.

Cheers.