Father and son bond over shared army experience at Exercise Wallaby

SINGAPORE - For Senior Lieutenant-Colonel (NS) Daniel Lim, 49, being at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland, Australia, brought back memories from 30 years ago, when he participated in Exercise Wallaby as a full-time national serviceman (NSF).

He never imagined then that he would take part in the long-running military training exercise decades later alongside his son, who is now an NSF.

Third Sergeant Dylan Lim, who is mortar ammo second-in-charge, said being in the field with his father has helped him understand what it means to give of his best when in green. “It’s a very unique experience, and I’m glad that we can share this experience together, and we can have a common experience to talk about when we go back home,” said the 20-year-old.

Inaugurated in 1990, Exercise Wallaby is the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) largest annual overseas unilateral exercise. This year’s exercise, the largest since 2016, runs from Sept 7 to next Sunday.

About 4,300 personnel and some 450 platforms from the army, navy and air force have been conducting cross-service drills over an area about four times the size of Singapore.

For instance, the army’s armour, guards, intelligence and transport units exercised with the air force’s fighter jets, its ground-based air defence (GBAD) assets and the Air-Land Tactical Control Centre (ALTaCC). Infantry, armour, engineer, combat service support and intelligence units also operated together with aircraft and the ALTaCC and GBAD systems, alongside navy vessels.

Training ran the gamut from motorised platform live firing to composite force operations and troop-lift missions involving AH-64D attack helicopters and CH-47F heavy lift helicopters.

This year’s edition marked the first motorised battalion live-firing exercise since 2012, when the Terrex troop carrier vehicle was put through its paces in its first major overseas exercise. On Wednesday, the Belrex Protected Combat Support Vehicle (Mortar) fired live rounds for the first time at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area. 

Brigadier-General Cai Dexian, who directed this year’s exercise, emphasised how the vast training area enables the SAF to train at a scale, level and complexity that cannot be replicated at home.

The integrated training and live-firing exercises are highly valuable as they allow different units from various services to “operate jointly at a high fidelity in a common space”, he added.

Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad, who visited SAF troops participating in the exercise, said the expansion of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area is on track to be completed in 2024.

The improved training area will have advanced training facilities, such as a simulated urban environment for live firing, and a combined arms range capable of hosting large-scale integrated exercises. The facilities will benefit both the SAF and the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Together with the adjacent Greenvale Training Area to be completed in 2028, the SAF will have access to a combined training area 10 times the size of Singapore.

At the end of his visit on Wednesday, Mr Zaqy thanked the Australian government, the ADF and the local communities for their support, and for being “wonderful hosts for the last 33 years”.

3SG Lim, who operates a Belrex, said Exercise Wallaby has been an opportunity to train in an environment that is vastly different from that in Singapore, with its dry, hot days and cold nights and the challenge of manoeuvring his vehicle in dust clouds. But both father and son said they will look back on their experience fondly.

SLTC (NS) Lim, who is Chief of Staff for the 3rd Singapore Infantry Brigade, said the exercise was “really fulfilling” not only because he got to train with his son, but also because he saw battle plans come to fruition.

“(We’re) roughing it out and seeing, at the end, our plan come to a successful conclusion.”