#oursgarmy

On the evening of 27 Jun 2015, the voices of 216 Singaporeans dressed in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) pixelated uniform echoed throughout Maju Camp. In salute to the Singapore flag, they recited the SAF Pledge and sang “Majulah Singapura” with pride and conviction. This marked the end of the Beret Presentation Parade for the inaugural batch of SAFVC Volunteers (SVs). 

Reciting the SAF Pledge!

The SAF Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) was launched in Oct 2014 to provide Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs) who are not required to serve National Service (NS) an opportunity to contribute to national defence, show support for NS, and deepen their understanding and ownership of national defence. Instead of using the existing SAF rank structure, the SAFVC has its own structure which consists of five tiers that signify the SV’s seniority in years of service. This distinguishes them from our National Servicemen and identifies them for their commitment towards Singapore. Since the introduction of the SAFVC, the SAF received more than one thousand applicants. There was a good representation of Singaporeans and PRs, and the majority were in their 30s.

The SVs began their military journey with two weeks of Basic Training where they experienced first-hand the ethos and culture of the SAF. Some of the notable highlights were a SAR21 live firing exercise, a Battle Inoculation Course, and a two-day field camp in Pulau Tekong. When we asked SVT Neo Li Fang, Defence Psychologist, to share her most memorable experience of Basic Training, she said, "I think outfield was really memorable, it was really back to basic where we slept in Basha under the starlight, wearing the same uniform for three days, doing leopard crawls and always ensuring that your rifle was with you. You hear people saying these but when you are the one actually doing it, going through it and experiencing it, it is different. When I am physically tired, and I see others going through and doing it together, it keeps the momentum going. When we came in, we were all very clear of what we were going to do and we were all coming in knowing why we were doing this."

Route march with a simulated casualty evacuation

This is not the end of their training. Next up for these SVs is a week of tailored training to qualify them for their respective roles. There are a total of 17 roles in nine categories across the three services covering C4 expertise, Naval Bridge Watchkeeping, Naval Combat/Platform Engineering, Medical Trainers, and Defence Psychologists. Those who will be deployed in armed roles are required to attend an additional one-week of advanced training. The training the SVs went through was progressive, safe, and meaningful. This was made possible by the dedicated team of instructors who comprised staff from SAF Volunteer Affairs Department (SVAD) and a cadre of experienced regular trainers from Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC). These new SVs will serve alongside current servicemen and servicewomen in a supporting capacity. The first group of SVs who can expect to be deployed are Auxiliary Security Troopers. They will be supporting NDP 2015 events. Due to the positive response we have received thus far, we are already in the midst of organizing Basic Training for the 2016 cohort. We plan to have three intakes: Mar (Continuous), Jun (Continuous), and Aug (Modular).

Why should one join the SAFVC? SVT Von Meyenburg Philip shares his story, “Singapore is my home and I want to give back and do my part. Looking at a lot of my friends here in Singapore, who all have done it and are now Operationally Ready NSmen, I am definitely closer to them now. The highlights of the training were the outfield in Pulau Tekong, weapons training, weapons stripping, giving you the confidence to handle the basic military elements. Going to the Kranji War Memorial, getting to know what really happened and learning more about individual stories, Singaporeans defending Singapore, I think that was one of the key things that I didn’t know before which made a big impact to me as well. I would encourage everyone who wants to give back to their new found home to step forward." We encourage all Singaporeans to continue to do their part and show their commitment to defence!