Feb 1, 2005
SAF proves capable as humanitarian
force
Diverse skills and mutual trust clear the way
in tsunami-hit Aceh
By Bernard Loo and Joshua Ho
FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
BRIDGING THE GAP: Indonesian children enjoying
a game with SAF troops in Meulaboh. Officers who could speak Bahasa
Indonesia bridged the language gap with locals.
THE Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) completed its emergency relief
mission after three weeks in Aceh as rescue and relief work in the
tsunami- affected areas moved into a new phase.
In this next phase - recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation -
the bulk of Singapore's contribution will be undertaken by civilian
volunteer groups like the Singapore Red Cross and Mercy
Relief.
Volunteers have been helping to set up centres for displaced
persons, providing them with basic necessities and delivering
school kits for children. This is to help restore some semblance of
normalcy to their lives until they can be more permanently
rehoused.
At least 24 centres are being built to re-house the more than
400,000 internally displaced persons who have lost their
homes.
As the soldiers from the SAF humanitarian assistance support group
hand over their duties to their Indonesian counterparts and return
home, they and other Singaporeans should be proud of what the SAF
has achieved in such a short time.
Non-defence role
SINCE the 1990s, an increasingly fashionable argument suggests that
the roles of military organisations in future will revolve less
around the traditional - military defence - and more around the
non-traditional, such as humanitarian relief, peacekeeping and
peace enforcement.
The argument further asserts that training for traditional military
defence roles has ill-prepared military personnel for assuming the
new functions and missions. The argument then concludes that, more
and more, military training ought to focus on these new, so-called
non-traditional roles and less on the traditional concerns of
military defence.
More importantly, decisions on force structures ought to focus on
the capabilities needed to support these new non-military
missions.
In other words, conventional military operations, basically, ought
to be seen as a thing of the past.
Indeed, this is increasingly becoming the case for the armed forces
of some European states, which now devote more time to training for
non-traditional roles than for traditional military defence
missions.
The manner in which the SAF responded to the tsunami disaster,
however, highlights the limits of the above argument.
The SAF responded swiftly by putting together a combination of
forces, supplies and equipment over what is traditionally a holiday
period. Within two days of the disaster, the first sorties of C-130
aircraft had ferried tents, groundsheets, blankets and medical and
food supplies to Medan.
Over the next three weeks, SAF Chinook and Super Puma helicopters
as well as C-130 and Fokker 50 aircraft flew some 250 missions,
carrying more than one million pounds of cargo and 4,000
people.
Three Republic of Singapore Navy helicopter landing ships and fast
craft ferried relief supplies, NGO personnel and volunteers.
But more critically, they brought engineering equipment like
bulldozers, excavators and cranes to establish beach landing points
and clear supply routes from the coast to the devastated city of
Meulaboh. The SAF medical teams treated 4,000 people in Banda Aceh
and Meulaboh.
That rescue and relief mission was the largest SAF operational
deployment ever undertaken to date. More than 1,200 personnel were
deployed - to Phuket in Thailand and to Medan, Banda Aceh and
Meulaboh in Indonesia.
RSAF aircraft flew supply and support missions between Jakarta,
Singapore and Aceh, and around the Indian Ocean rim to Phuket, Sri
Lanka, the Maldives and Mauritius.
Besides people deployed on the ground in the disaster-stricken
areas, many more SAF personnel supported the men and women in the
field. They worked very hard to get the aircraft, ships, equipment
and men ready to go at short notice.
The assets that the SAF has been able to deploy in support of its
humanitarian efforts - the C-130 aircraft, Chinook and Super Puma
helicopters, as well as helicopter landing ships - are all
conventional military assets and are the result of the SAF's
continuing focus on conventional military defence.
Key capabilities
WHY was the SAF able to respond so swiftly, effectively and
sensitively? Partly because of the prudent development of a diverse
and flexible set of capabilities, partly because of the high
quality of training.
Soldiers were able to perform their tasks professionally and
sensitively in a manner attuned to the needs and concerns of a
population affected by a major disaster.
Furthermore, the SAF was able to coordinate closely with its
Indonesian counterparts, thanks to many years of extensive
interaction and cooperation in exercises, personnel exchanges and
attending each other's training courses, which have resulted in the
development of mutual respect and understanding.
Indeed, such was the trust that the SAF was given freedom to deploy
troops for relief work in and around Meulaboh without having to be
escorted by Indonesian soldiers.
An especially critical group of soldiers were the liaison officers
who could speak Bahasa Indonesia and thus act as a bridge between
the Indonesians and the 30 non-governmental organisations.
At the higher political and senior command levels, close ties
enabled Singapore to understand the specific needs of the
Indonesians and for the SAF to tailor assistance accordingly. A
phone call, a quick meeting, and the thing was done.
In the coming years, the SAF will develop yet further. It will
leverage on information technology, precision capabilities and
networks to transform itself into what is called the 3G (3rd
generation) SAF, one expected to respond to a wider spectrum of
threats and challenges and to deal even more swiftly and capably
with the unexpected.
But success in such a transformation is not dependent on the
application of technology alone. As the SAF's response to the
tsunami showed, the human factor is just as crucial.
Bernard Loo is an assistant professor and Joshua Ho is a research
fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang
Technological University.
