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Singapore Military Establishment
The military system was designed to provide an
effective
fighting force that could be partially or fully mobilized
in
emergencies and yet would maintain a low profile during
peacetime.
Because the reserves were viewed as the backbone of the
armed
forces, particular emphasis was placed on mobilization
training. In
a 1985 mobilization exercise that involved four army
reserve
brigades, 97 percent of 7,000 reservists reported to their
assigned
bases within a six-hour period. Selected units were
equipped and
deployed only twelve hours after the initial order to
mobilize. By
1989 more than two decades of effective planning had
promoted a
well-trained and well-equipped military establishment that
was
adequately prepared for its defense mission.
The armed forces occasionally were asked to provide
assistance
to disaster relief efforts in Singapore and abroad. In
1986 several
hundred reservists belonging to sixteen army and air force
units
assisted efforts to rescue 100 persons trapped when a
six-story
hotel collapsed in one of Singapore's commercial
districts. In 1987
the Ministry of Defence had army reserve logistics units
assemble
food, clothing, and medical supplies from storage depots
for
Philippine typhoon victims. An air force transport unit
delivered
the supplies to the Philippines less than sixteen hours
after the
relief effort was organized.
Data as of December 1989
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