Running an air force using ball sense
Loh Chee Kong
[email protected]
What's the difference between running a country's air force and
managing a football team?
.
Not much apparently, according to the Chief of Air Force,
Brigadier-General (BG) Ng Chee Khern.
.
Taking the analogy further, BG Ng explained that the recent
restructuring of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was
done to allow different parts of the team to train together "with a
mission in mind from Day One".
.
Said BG Ng, 41, who took on his role last March: "Previously, with
the airbases, the way we train the F16 and F5 squadrons, it's
almost as if you are training the defenders with defenders,
midfielders with midfielders and strikers with strikers. And, once
in a while, every Saturday, you come together to play."
.
With the inauguration of the Air Defence Operations Command last
Friday, the RSAF makeover, which will move it away from a
geographically-based command and control structure to one that
focuses on core mission areas, will be complete with five new
Commands set up by 2009.
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The RSAF senior leadership, he said, has been studying future
concepts in order to stay relevant amid the evolving security
landscape and increased operational demands such as homeland
surveillance and humanitarian relief missions.
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A key thrust behind the re-organisation was to integrate the air
force, not just within itself, but also as part of the Singapore
Armed Forces, he added.
.
"Let's say in a counter-terrorist scenario, it won't be just police
or army personnel. Helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
will be deployed. You have to make sure that the whole training
process
ensures that you can do that effectively before the time
comes," he said.
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The UAV Command, which will develop the SAF's UAV capabilities,
will be set up next within two months.
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Only after the re-organisation is complete will the RSAF focus on
people development, which BG Ng tags as the "last piece of the
jigsaw".
.
"Before we understand how the economy will develop, it's very
difficult to structure your university faculties to support the
economy. In the same way, now that we are clearer on how the air
force's structure and technologies will be developed, it becomes
much easier for us to know what attributes of the air force
officers we need to develop in the coming years."
.
In the meantime, the first batch of F15 fighter jets will
be ready for take-off in two years, he said. The RSAF is
still in discussions with the United States in finding a base there
to train these pilots, with Idaho reportedly being a potential
site.
.
The RSAF is also undergoing trials on using corrective eye
surgery widely used in the US Navy for prospective fighter
pilots who are myopic.
2.For corrective eye surger,read today 09.Jan 2007 Strait
Times.
pl post the news here.I know many JC students have acces to ST
site.
