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WAIMANALO, Hawaii -- Faces beamed as friends reunited after a year-long separation. Hands shook in strong grasps and backs were patted as U.S. and Singaporean militaries reunited for another Tiger Balm Exercise held this year at the Hawaii National Guard Regional Training Institute, Waimanalo, Hawaii.
Catching up on family milestones, the past year and training readiness was the talk of breakfast the first morning.
The 82 Rear Operations Center, Oregon Army National Guard, has been the higher control section for the exercise during the past four years. This year the Hawaii National Guard ran the exercise and helped set the conditions for a successful command post exercise for the Singapore Armed Forces.
The U.S. military and the SAF conducted the second phase of a two-year bilateral multi-unit exercise. The first phase, held in Singapore, focused on offensive and defensive actions while the focus this year was on stability and support.
Brig. Gen. Gary Hara, Land Component commander for the Hawaii National Guard said, “The whole purpose of this exercise is to strengthen relationships in the Asia-Pacific region.”
After the greetings, it was time to get down to business. Soldiers from the Singapore Armed Forces attended a familiarization computer course on the use of a command and control program.
The program enables the participants of the exercise to have a common operating picture of the area, actions and unit locations.
In a real world scenario, the program allows the commander to visualize the situation in a joint environment, and to make decisions, said Don Norman, lead instructor with Mission Training Center, Hawaii, Individual Training Branch.
The joint environment included Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington National Guard units, the Oregon Air National Guard, Hawaii Army Reserves and the Singapore Armed Forces. During the exercise this diverse group came together to learn and teach each other about their jobs, terminology and unit-specific procedures.
Joint training with the Air National Guard also provides the opportunity to incorporate procedures and practices within the local units. The 123 Weather Flight, Oregon Air National Guard provides weather watch for both army and air units. First Lt. Lena Morrill, Staff Weather officer with 123 Weather Flight, Oregon Air National Guard, is attending her first Tiger Balm exercise.
“Training has been phenomenal,” said Morrill “It helps me to understand Army processes and how their operations work.”
Since military processes and procedures vary between branches, communication is a key component for success in a joint environment. Differences between each country’s military vocabulary and acronyms can be an even greater obstacle.
Working side-by-side helps to foster professional military relations between the two countries and increase strategic interoperability.
“A big part of the interaction is learning how to call things,” said Capt. Shawn Gardner with the 1/294 Infantry, 29 Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Hawaii National Guard. Gardner is part of a battalion attached to a Singaporean brigade. “We have the same information but in a slightly different order and in slightly different names,” she said.
Stability and support operations and the missions incorporated with it is a new training focus for the SAF.
“We will be doing things we don’t normally do in Singapore,” said Capt. Eugene Tan, lower control brigade commander with the SAF engineer planning group. "Non-conventional methods will be used and that will be more of a learning process for us.”
The SAF are familiar with building structures rather than assessing damages and other skills engineers use during a stability and support operation, Tan added.
While the militaries are hard at work, they are also hard at play. Two sports days, a Tiger Balm tradition, brought the troops together for a little friendly competition. One day hosted by the U.S. consisted of an ultimate rugby tournament. Sixteen teams were whittled down to one through a series of 15-minute games.
The second day, hosted by the SAF, led with a variety of team-building activities. Teamwork was needed to win each event that included spinning, kicking, coordination and speed.
Even though the reason for the interaction has a military focus, relationships have been built that surpass the training boundaries.
During the training, U.S. participants had opportunities to connect individually with their Singapore counterparts. They exchanged cultural information, conversed at teatime, and shared gifts.
“Relationships with SAF have allowed us to understand their culture and that builds into something more than the military,” said Col. William J. Prendergast, 82 ROC commander. ”
This year is a bittersweet time for the members of the 82 ROC. After 10 years with Tiger Balm, the ROC will be concluding its involvement with Tiger Balm. They are handing the HICON responsibility to the Hawaiian National Guard at the conclusion of this year’s exercise.
The details of the training exercise may fade as time goes on but the SAF and U.S. service members can look back and smile at the memories, friends and relationships made.
“Their memories of working with coalition forces will last a lifetime,” said Prendergast.
| Date Taken: | 07.22.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.10.2012 13:39 |
| Story ID: | 92991 |
| Location: | WAIMANALO, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Professionalism, friendships, traditions continue at Tiger Balm 2012, by SFC Anita Stratton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
