Opening Address by MG Perry Lim, Chief of Army, at the Special Forces Commanders' Conference 2014

Commanders, distinguished guests, friends of the Special Forces community, welcome to the Special Forces Commanders' Conference (SFCC) 2014.

This conference brings together academic experts, as well as members of the Special Forces fraternity who are strategic assets to the military organisations and governments that you serve. Many of you share similar working and training experiences, and have forged close friendships through the many interactions and cooperation. I hope this conference will facilitate the exchange of ideas and further strengthen these relationships.

Marked Achievements Through Military Cooperation Since 2009
Since the last SFCC held here in Singapore in 2009, coordinated efforts by militaries from around the world, especially the deployment of Special Forces, have been extremely successful.

Five years ago, high levels of piracy off the northern and eastern coasts of Africa in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin undermined the security of international shipping. This posed a significant threat to the lives of merchant sailors, and the health of the maritime industry. Since then, international military cooperation, including Special Forces deployments with the various naval forces has successfully deterred and disrupted the piracy activities. This included Singapore's contribution of a fifth task group comprising a frigate and a security component of the Special Operations Task Force, or SOTF, deployed under the ambit of the US-led Combined Task Force 151. I am pleased to report that there were no successful hijacking incidents in the CTF 151's area of responsibility during our three-month deployment. On the whole, just a handful of incidents have occurred in the past year compared to a high of over 170 incidents between 2010 and 2011. The credit goes to all the counter-piracy forces such as CTF 151, NATO, and EU naval forces, and also independent forces deployed.

In the Middle East, Special Forces have played significant roles in Afghanistan and the US-led operations in Iraq and their unique expertise continues to be important in the region. The Singapore Armed Forces concluded our deployment to Afghanistan in June 2013 where we had personnel deployed since 2007 supporting the coalition effort in intelligence support, medical, engineering, and artillery early warning radars.

Today's Security Landscape - We Must Continue to Cooperate and Improve

Despite these successes, the world still faces many new and emerging challenges. The clear and present threat posed by IS is a case in point. We are constantly reminded that security challenges continue to exist and hinder peaceful development. Ensuring security is very much a whole-of-government effort, which requires interagency cooperation between civilian and defence entities. Militaries can bring to bear their operational planning expertise, organisational strengths, and a wide variety of assets and manpower. Due to globalisation, terrorist threats have become transnational in nature, and it is not possible to isolate such threats to a single operational or geographical area. Only through mutual sharing and learning can we develop more comprehensive and effective solutions.

The international military response to constant security threats must be coordinated and mutually supportive. Earlier this week, Singapore co-chaired the 4th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) Expert Working Group on Counter Terrorism, or EWG-CT, with Australia. The EWG-CT is not only a platform for regional militaries to exchange views on emerging terrorist threats, but also a platform to cooperate in practical scenarios. From the EWG-CT, a Counter-Terrorism Exercise was hosted by Indonesia in September 2013. The exercise gathered ADMM-Plus militaries to share CT expertise, as well as to facilitate mutual understanding of one another's Tactics Techniques and Procedures. We aim to build upon this as the current co-chair of the EWG-CT. Furthermore, the Expert Working Group on Counter Terrorism will work closely with the Expert Working Group on Maritime Security Group to commence joint planning on a Counter-Terrorism / Maritime Security Exercise in 2016.

The Special Forces Community is Best Poised for Cooperation
Special Forces is the sharp tip of the spear delivering strategic action in hostile engagements, yet also the human face on the ground in peaceful scenarios. This characteristic is ever more important in modern times where irregular warfare has become the norm. Likewise, in international military cooperation, the Special Forces fraternity is positioned to lead because collaboration has always been a part of the Special Forces ethos and way of life.

At the smallest denomination, there are few bonds in the military as strong as those shared by soldiers, sailors, and airmen in the various Special Forces outfits. In the way you operate, the human dimension is most important, underscored by teamwork. It is how you have been brought up.

At the service and armed-forces level, Special Forces have blazed the trail towards 'jointness', both in command and operating functions. Many countries have some form of joint command to manage cross-service Special Forces. Here in Singapore, we established an integrated Special Operations Task Force (SOTF) in 2009, which brought together Special Forces from the Army's Commandos and the Navy's Naval Divers with a supporting Air Aviation component. Although relatively new, the SOTF is a good example of cross-service integration of operations, training, and capability development. This establishment is similar to how many other renowned international Special Forces are organised and effectively prosecute special operations.

Flexibility and the ability to adapt quickly with creative solutions is a hallmark of how you operate. Being a small group also means more familiarity with those you work with, both domestically and internationally. As a member of this fraternity, you are probably more likely to recognise familiar faces here than in a conventional military conference. This is going to be a great advantage because more than ever, we need multilateral Special Forces cooperation in information sharing, counter-terrorism responses, and shared Special Forces operating procedures in order to stay ahead of the threats we face today.

Conclusion

In this year's SFCC, the organisers have brought together a variety of distinguished academic and military speakers who will share on topics related to the conference theme of "Evolving Terrorist Threats: Challenges and Opportunities for Special Forces". I encourage the robust exchange of ideas and open sharing of best practices in the next two days to strengthen multilateral cooperation, particularly within the Special Forces community. Having said that, I also encourage all of you to take this opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new friends to last.

I wish you all a fruitful conference and a pleasant stay in Singapore. Thank you.