Speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean at the Inauguration of PC V Detachment

Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to be here at Mountain Home Air Force Base to inaugurate the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) Peace Carvin V F-15SG detachment. Thank you for your warm welcome.

Singapore is a small country, just 710 sq km, or 274 sq miles, smaller than the state of Rhode Island, smaller than the training area you have here, south of Mountain Home Air Force base. But we are located at a strategic location at the southern tip of the Asian land mass, along the main sea routes between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Though small, through national service conscription for all young men, and by investing judiciously in the modern defence capabilities needed, we are determined to provide for our own defence, and to contribute to the peace and stability of our region. Faced with severe land and air space constraints at home, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is grateful for the opportunities that have been provided by our friends and neighbours to conduct exercises and training overseas. These overseas training opportunities help us to build up our operational capabilities and readiness. Two days ago, I was at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. I was there to observe Ex Forging Sabre, an air-land integrated strike exercise by the Singapore Army and the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). With the generous training space and assistance provided by the US Army, we were able to conduct a large-scale exercise that involved a wide range of air and land assets working closely together to execute complex missions. The exercise marks an important step forward for the SAF's validation of its integrated strike capability.

The training that the SAF has been able to conduct in the United States, and the invaluable support and assistance rendered by the US Government and the US military, are a reflection of the strong and warm bilateral relationship that our two countries enjoy. This is a relationship based on shared strategic perspectives and common interests. Singapore's position has always been that the United States' presence in the Asia-Pacific is vital for the region's continued peace and security. US ships and aircraft have called at Singapore's air and naval bases for decades, pre-dating Singapore's independence in 1965. In the 1990s, when the US Air Force and US Navy ceased to use the Clark and Subic bases in the Philippines, Singapore offered the United States access to our facilities in Singapore through the signing of the 1990 Memorandum of Understanding. The MOU allowed the US Navy to locate its COMLOG WESTPAC in Singapore to support USN ships calling into Singapore, and for the USAF and other service fighters to deploy to Singapore for exercises, refuelling and maintenance. In 1998, an addendum to this MOU allowed for US Navy deep draft vessels such as aircraft carriers to berth alongside the Republic of Singapore Navy's Changi Naval Base, a new facility that we were building then. In 2005, our bilateral defence relations reached yet another milestone when President Bush and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong signed the Strategic Framework Agreement to expand defence and security cooperation in the areas of military training and exchanges, the use of facilities, and defence technology research and development. We also affirmed our commitment to strengthen cooperation against the threats of global terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Countries around the world today face a security landscape where the challenges are multi-faceted and transnational. International cooperation is required to address these challenges. I am therefore heartened that the cooperation and interactions between the SAF and US Armed Forces have grown both in breadth and depth. We also work together operationally through the Proliferation Security Initiative, in maritime security in the Gulf of Aden, and in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations such as in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami. The SAF has made deployments of soldiers, aircraft and ships in UN peacekeeping operations and, to demonstrate our support for and assist where we are able to, in multinational operations such as Desert Storm, and stabilisation and reconstruction missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF) share an excellent working relationship. Interactions between the two Air Forces are frequent and extensive. They include joint exercises, visits and cross-participation in each other's seminars and courses. One example is Exercise Cope Tiger in Thailand, in March this year, the 15th exercise in this series involving the RSAF, USAF and the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). Both Air Forces also regularly engage each other in bilateral and multilateral exercises like Ex Commando Sling in Singapore and Ex Red Flag in the US. These exercises foster mutual understanding and enhance interoperability between our armed forces. They allow us to operate seamlessly together when called upon to do so such as in multinational operations in Iraq, as well as in relief operations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Today, we deepen our friendship further with the inauguration of the Peace Carvin V F-15SG detachment. The Peace Carvin Programme has a long history, spanning 21 years now. It began with Peace Carvin I in 1988, when the RSAF acquired its first F-16 fighter aircraft, the A/B model, and set up its first detachment at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. We continue to train many of our F-16 pilots there, under the Peace Carvin II programme which started in 1992, and who are now operating the F16C/Ds. We also had a Peace Carvin III F-16C/D training detachment in Clovis, New Mexico under the 428th Fighter Squadron from 1998 to 2005. I am happy to note that the 428th Fighter Squadron has been reactivated as the F-15SG Fighter Squadron here.

Elsewhere in the United States, we have had the KC-135 Squadron in Kansas between 1998 and 2003, where we trained our tanker crew under the Peace Guardian Programme. And we currently operate a Peace Vanguard Apache Helicopter detachment at Marana, Arizona, as well as a Peace Prairie Chinook detachment in Grand Prairie, Texas. Over the years, these programmes have provided realistic, rigorous and demanding training for our airmen to build up their combat readiness. They have also seen countless friendships forged between the airmen and crews of our two Air Forces. They are a reflection of the longstanding defence relationship between Singapore and the United States. On behalf of the Singapore Government and the SAF, I extend my sincere appreciation to the US Government and the US Armed Forces for your support of the RSAF's training detachments in the United States. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the US Air Force and the US Air Combat Command for the commitment and support that you have given to the Peace Carvin V detachment in Mountain Home. Many thanks also go to the Mountain Home community and Mountain Home Air Force Base for the warm hospitality which you have extended to the RSAF servicemen and their families. Your hand of welcome and friendship makes a big difference in helping the RSAF feel at home here. To all our RSAF servicemen, do your very best to acquire the skills and knowledge to operate these new platforms. Take the opportunity to make not just new professional contacts, but new friends. To the families of our servicemen here, thank you for your strong support and understanding. Your presence here gives our servicemen the ease of mind that is necessary for them to do their job well. Their success is yours as well.

The F-15SG represents a new capability that will enhance the SAF's ability to deal decisively with security challenges and contribute to the peace and stability of our region. I am confident that the intensive training you receive here in Mountain Home, and with the USAF, will enable our F 15SG squadron to rapidly achieve the high state of operational proficiency and readiness necessary for the defence of Singapore. I wish the Peace Carvin V detachment and all its partners every success.

Thank you.