Army, Navy and Air Force personnel share experiences living and working on the same warship during Exercise Trident

SHOALWATER BAY TRAINING AREA, AUSTRALIA – With a length of 141 meters and a displacement of 6,000 tons, Landing Ships Tank (LST), like the RSS Persistence, are the largest ships of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), serving a variety of missions can complete.

For the RSS Persistence, this included providing emergency relief to the Indonesian province of Aceh following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, participating in multinational anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and conducting search and rescue missions in the Java Sea after the crash. of AirAsia Flight 8501 in 2014.

By bringing Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers from different services together on missions, it has now reunited two brothers in Australian waters, thousands of miles from home.

In Freshwater Bay off the east coast of Australia, Corporal First Class (CFC) Lim Shi Rong, 21, a platoon gunner with the 3rd Battalion, Singapore Guards, grinned as he met Corporal (CPL) Lim Shi saw .

CPL Lim said he was excited when he learned that he and his brother would be stationed on the same ship as it would be his first meeting with a family member since he left Singapore almost a month ago.

The bay, part of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA), is where the bilateral Exercise Trident takes place between the armed forces of Singapore and Australia.

The exercise involves more than 1,900 troops from Singapore and Australia. Troops and vehicles from the LSTs RSS Endurance and RSS Persistence will be carried aboard Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) fast craft and helicopters to complete missions inland.

For CFC Lim, participating in the LST was an opportunity to see his brother at work. “In the military, we don’t often get a chance to see how the Navy works, and this was an interesting experience.”

The Straits Times was part of a media group that was taken aboard the RSS Persistence for an overnight stay during the exercise.

Reporters witnessed several shipboard operations, including how sailors kept watch all night while anchored offshore, as well as the launch and recovery of helicopters and fast craft.

Exercise Trident marks the first time that some soldiers, such as Third Sergeant (3SG) (NS) Mohd Nazrul Mohd Yazid, will participate in an SAF overseas exercise and see service branch personnel working side by side.

3SG (NS) Nazrul, a pharmaceutical biotechnologist in civilian life, has the role of helmsman of fast craft equipment and personnel (FCEP) in the exercise, and is tasked to pilot the 13-meter vessel as it transports troops and equipment to the coast or between LSTs.

Despite the six-week deployment being by far the longest he has ever been away from his family, he said it has been memorable so far.

“It is the first time that I have seen three services of the SAF working together as one, and it is a sight to behold,” he added, referring to the Army, RSAF and RSN.

Adjusting to long-term stays on a ship was a challenge highlighted by Second Sergeant (2SG) (NS) Bhaskar Guruprakash, a section commander of the Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo five-ton wheeled amphibious vehicles with the 3rd SAF Transport Battalion.