The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) conducted a counter-terrorism exercise in the early morning of 13 May 2022. This exercise is part of continuous efforts by the Home Team and the SAF to test and validate Singapore’s multi-agency response plan in the event of terrorist attacks.
More than 700 personnel from the SPF’s Bedok Police Division, Tanglin Police Division, Special Operations Command (SOC), and Gurkha Contingent (GC), the SAF’s Island Defence Task Force (IDTF), and Special Operations Task Force (SOTF), as well as the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) 2nd Division, and Kallang Fire Station, participated in the exercise, which was held in two phases.
Phase 1 of the exercise was held at the Singapore Expo, where the SPF and SAF personnel responded to various attack scenarios such as Improvised Explosive Device (IED) threats, suicide bomber and active shooter incidents. The SPF’s Ground Response Force (GRF) officers and Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) provided the first line of response to these simulated attacks. The second wave responders from the Armed Strike Teams (ASTs) of the SPF’s SOC and GC provided additional tactical capabilities to neutralise the shooters and suicide bomber. SAF’s IDTF, supported by the Army Deployment Force (ADF), 1st Commando Battalion (1 Cdo Bn) and 15th Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence Battalion (15 C4I Bn), supported with the surveillance of the area and contained the situation by cordoning off the incident site. SCDF resources facilitated the evacuation of the injured persons. Post assault activities such as searching for civilians and hidden perpetrators were executed by SPF’s ASTs and K-9 Search Dog Teams.
Phase 2 of the exercise was held at ITE College East, where SPF’s GRF and ERT officers responded to a shooting scenario. The Home Team Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was deployed to provide live visual updates to the SPF Ground Commander. The exercise also saw the setup of SPF’s forward command post to coordinate various forces’ response on the ground. The SPF was supported by the SAF’s SOTF to neutralise the active shooter. In another scenario, the SOTF, together with the SAF’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives Defence Group (CBRE DG) swiftly neutralised a suicide bomber. The Medical Response Force (MRF) was also activated to provide close tactical combat casualty care for the assault forces.
The SPF and SAF conduct regular joint training and exercises to enhance operational readiness in homeland security operations. Such interactions strengthen interoperability between the two security forces to deal swiftly and effectively with terrorism threats under the Homefront Crisis Management Framework.
Credit: Singapore Police Force
Credit: Singapore Police Force
Credit: Singapore Police Force
Credit: Singapore Police Force
Credit: Singapore Police Force
Credit: Singapore Police Force
Credit: Ministry of Defence
Credit: Ministry of Defence
Credit: Ministry of Defence
Credit: Ministry of Defence
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
13 May 2022 @ 5:15 PM