But the elite battalion is concerned the ongoing suspension of Basic Military Training could hurt its ability to maintain sufficient numbers.
SINGAPORE: Like many elite forces, the Singapore Armed Forces Commandos are trained to operate in small groups behind enemy lines.
"Ideally, we want to train at the company and battalion level," 1st Commando Battalion commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Fabian Pwi, 37, told reporters via a video conference on Wednesday ."But part of the commandos' mission is to operate behind enemy lines in a very decentralised fashion. This means that a lot of training must go into small-unit leadership, small-unit independence and being able to survive as a small unit.
"It allows detachment commanders to have a lot more voice in how they govern their detachments," LTC Pwi said. "I've seen soldiers demonstrating some degree of maturity to not just demand this kind of awkward and uncomfortable actions from themselves, but also pick up the leadership role of highlighting if their peers are forgetful."Detachment commander Third Sergeant Carvalho Antonio Pottier Mohammad Fakhri, 21, said spending more time confined to the same small group has given more meaning to training.
While LTC Pwi said the staffing is fine for now – a new batch that turned operational three weeks ago has replaced the outgoing batch that ORD-ed on Tuesday – there remains uncertainty around when the circuit breaker could be lifted."While there’s COVID-19, some services can come to a standstill. But my main concern is when it comes to defence, the clock doesn’t stop.
"After one detachment has used the obstacle course, it has to sanitise each obstacle before the next detachment can use it," detachment commander 3SG Varatharajan Ramkumar Rohan, 22, said.But the soldiers are taking it in stride. 3SG Carvalho said birthdays are now celebrated by shouting birthday songs from one bunk to another.
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