Singapore and US Army Successfully Employed Live-Virtual-Constructive Training Approach at Exercise Tiger Balm 2016

Troops from the Singapore Army and the US Army participating in the closing ceremony of Exercise Tiger Balm 2016 in Hawaii, USA.

Commander 6th Singapore Division (6 DIV) Brigadier-General (BG) Chua Boon Keat and Commanding General of 25th Infantry Division (25 ID), United States Army Pacific (USARPAC), Major General (MG) Charles A. Flynn co-officiated at the closing ceremony of Exercise Tiger Balm in Hawaii this morning (Singapore time). Held from 17 to 31 July 2016, about 140 personnel from 9th Singapore Infantry Brigade (9 SIB), and 240 personnel from 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), Hawaii Army National Guard and 3rd Brigade Combat Team (CBT), US Army, took part in the exercise.

This is the first time that a "Live-Virtual-Constructive" (L-V-C) training approach is employed for an army bilateral exercise across two different countries and at such a large scale. The "Live" aspect of the exercise comprised the Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFX) between the two armies, whilst the "Virtual" aspect involved the employment of the Virtual Battlespace Simulator 2 (VBS2) for surveillance tasks. The "Constructive" aspect saw the linking of the US' Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation (JCATS) with the SAF's Army War-game Simulation System (AWSS) to allow the exchange of ground tactical information. The employment of the L-V-C approach in both Hawaii and Singapore stretched the participants in the conduct of large-scale operations in a realistic training environment and enhanced the interoperability between the two armies.

Exercise Tiger Balm was first conducted in 1981 and is the longest-running bilateral exercise between the Singapore Army and the US Army. This annual exercise allows both armies to collaborate and share tactics, techniques and procedures, and is a hallmark of the excellent and long-standing ties between both armed forces.

Exercise Tiger Balm is one of the many bilateral interactions between the Singapore and US armed forces. The two armed forces interact extensively through professional exchange programmes, cross-attendance of professional courses, as well as bilateral and multilateral exercises such as Exercise Cobra Gold, Exercise Rim of Pacific (RIMPAC), Exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) and Exercise Red Flag. These interactions have helped the relationship between both armed forces grow from strength to strength, and have deepened people-to-people ties among their personnel.

Exercise participants from the Singapore Army and the US Army at the US' Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation (JCATS) in the ''constructive'' environment with linkage to the SAF's Army War-game Simulation System (AWSS) and ground tactical forces in Hawaii.

Exercise participants from the Singapore Army and the US Army in a map planning exercise.

Soldiers from the Singapore Army and the US Army in a live-firing shoot during the exercise.

Troops from the Singapore Army and the US Army participating in the Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFX).