Love is in the air: RSAF celebrates two milestones for its US detachments

SINGAPORE - Loading missiles onto F-16 jets some 14,000km from home, Military Expert 2 (ME2) Yogaraj Kunaseelan did not think he would find love.

As fate would have it, the 31-year-old would meet fellow air force engineer Lai Huiyan, a colleague on the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF) Peace Carvin II (PCII) detachment at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

While their friends saw them growing closer on road trips to Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it was at a 2019 Chainsmokers concert in Phoenix that sparks flew as they bonded over their shared love for the electronic duo’s music.

The pair kept in close contact after ME2 Lai returned to Singapore at the end of 2019, and they tied the knot in 2022.

The relationship between Singapore and US forces have similarly blossomed in the 30 years since PCII was formed.

Established in 1993, PCII is the RSAF’s longest-running overseas detachment, where its aircrew is able to transcend the severe limitations of Singapore’s tight airspace while taking part in F-16 fighter aircraft training with the United States Air Force (USAF).

The Singapore detachment is part of the air force base’s 425th Fighter Squadron, known as the Black Widows, and is led by a joint USAF-RSAF command team.

To mark the anniversary, Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How joined a celebration at the base on Wednesday and witnessed the unveiling of a commemorative tail flash on an F-16 fighter that signified the three decades of strong partnership between the two air forces.

Mr Heng said PCII has clocked more than 75,000 hours of flying time and participated in numerous large-scale exercises and honed capabilities that would not have been possible back home.

For instance, the F-16s have onboard radars and weapon systems that can see and fire at targets beyond visual range, but RSAF aircrew could realise these capabilities only with large expanses of airspace and challenging operational environments, he said.

“They also needed to be well-supported in maintenance and logistics,” he said. “We found and enjoyed all these in Arizona, with the solid partnership from the USAF.”

Major Tan Yong Chin, who commands the PCII detachment, told The Sunday Times that participating in advanced multilateral air combat exercises such as Red Flag has enabled the RSAF to refine its tactics and procedures and access advanced training aids, which has significantly improved mission planning and coordination capabilities and overall operating effectiveness.

Mr Heng noted that PCII also paved the way for the formation of two other permanent RSAF detachments in the US. These are the Peace Carvin V detachment of F-15SG fighters at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, and the Peace Vanguard (PV) detachment of AH-64D Apache helicopters in Marana, Arizona.

On Thursday, Mr Heng visited the PV detachment at the Arizona National Guard Silverbell Army Heliport in Marana to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

The PV detachment, around 130km away from PCII, is where the RSAF works closely with the Arizona National Guard’s US Army Flight Training Detachment on Apache helicopter training for its air and ground crew.

The detachment has, since 2003, trained more than 120 Apache helicopter pilots, scores of air force engineers and recorded nearly 40,000 flight hours, said Mr Heng. Crew at PV frequently participate in realistic and complex training exercises that include simulations of air-land battles in contested environments, he noted.

“Today, our air force has a highly professional and well-trained attack helicopter fleet built upon the invaluable experience from Peace Vanguard,” he said.

ME2 Yogaraj, who is on his second PCII posting, said his greatest takeaway from his time in Arizona is working closely with his USAF counterparts and keeping his skills sharp. This involves routine training and exercises, but also trials such as the air wing’s weapon-loading competition in 2021, where he had to load munitions onto actual fighter jets with precision while under time pressure.

The close bonds forged between members of the detachment at PCII keep him going so far from home, said ME2 Yogaraj. Having his soulmate nearby is just as important.

After a short posting back in Singapore, ME2 Lai decided to support her husband by returning to Arizona on spousal terms, under a no-pay leave scheme. “We just got married last year before coming over. The decision was tough initially, but the (RSAF) was supportive for me to be on no-pay leave during the posting,” she said.