Special Operations Task Force reveals capabilities to tackle terror threats
By S. Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 13 July 2009
SINGAPORE : Singapore's Special Operations Task Force can gather resources from all three services of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in its battle against terrorism.
The new task force is headed by Singapore's Chief Commando Officer, with the Commander of the Naval Diving Unit as his deputy.
The challenges facing the SAF's elite team are numerous. These range from battling terrorism, hostage-taking incidents and even rescue tasks in support of submarine operations.
"Some of the qualities that we look for in the special forces troopers would be, first the resilience that they have within themselves, the commitment to the organisation and the team. And some of the other attributes would include the ability to adapt to changes in the situation," said Chief Commando Officer, Colonel Lam Shiu Tong, Commander of Special Operations Task Force.
One such case is the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November, which taught security agencies valuable lessons.
Said Col Lam: "You can see from the Mumbai-like attack, where terrorists are getting smarter as well. They are getting more organised - they learnt from what the special and security forces are doing. They are also adapting.
"So in the face of such a security check, it'll be timely if we can re-look into the way we do things. And integrating two special forces will give us expanded capabilities to be able to handle multi-faceted challenges such as those experienced in Mumbai."
The Special Operations Task Force is also ensuring that it keeps up to date with the latest military technology to meet its challenges. It will be working closely with Singapore's defence industries and also the Defence Science and Technology Agency to meet this objective.
The task force will also take part in Exercise Northstar. - CNA
By S. Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 13 July 2009
SINGAPORE : Singapore's Special Operations Task Force can gather resources from all three services of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in its battle against terrorism.
The new task force is headed by Singapore's Chief Commando Officer, with the Commander of the Naval Diving Unit as his deputy.
The challenges facing the SAF's elite team are numerous. These range from battling terrorism, hostage-taking incidents and even rescue tasks in support of submarine operations.
"Some of the qualities that we look for in the special forces troopers would be, first the resilience that they have within themselves, the commitment to the organisation and the team. And some of the other attributes would include the ability to adapt to changes in the situation," said Chief Commando Officer, Colonel Lam Shiu Tong, Commander of Special Operations Task Force.
One such case is the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November, which taught security agencies valuable lessons.
Said Col Lam: "You can see from the Mumbai-like attack, where terrorists are getting smarter as well. They are getting more organised - they learnt from what the special and security forces are doing. They are also adapting.
"So in the face of such a security check, it'll be timely if we can re-look into the way we do things. And integrating two special forces will give us expanded capabilities to be able to handle multi-faceted challenges such as those experienced in Mumbai."
The Special Operations Task Force is also ensuring that it keeps up to date with the latest military technology to meet its challenges. It will be working closely with Singapore's defence industries and also the Defence Science and Technology Agency to meet this objective.
The task force will also take part in Exercise Northstar. - CNA
