Lt Gen James Jarrard, DCG of USARPAC, visited Singapore on 9 Feb 2023. Jarrard called on Maj Gen David Neo (Chief of Army) & he also visited 6 Div/HQ Sense & Strike, where he was briefed on the SG Army's sense & strike transformation.
📷: PTE Teo Ze Xuan & 6 Div Media Team
Lt Gen Jarrard also met with Chief of Staff - General Staff, BG Tan Cheng Kwee after signing the guest book at MINDEF.
Lt Gen Jarrard stressed that continuous engagement is essential to build interoperability so the US & partner forces can respond to events & crises in the region, whether it’s humanitarian & disaster relief ops or respond to military situations.
Below, then Maj Gen Jarrad in a Black Hawk, over Syria (as he previously served as the Director of Operations of the US Special Operations Command).
Lt Gen Jarrad is aware of the SAF’s past contributions to the Defeat-ISIS coalition. Since 2014, the SAF has contributed assets (eg. tanker aircraft), & deployed imagery analysts, liaison & intelligence fusion officers & medical teams in support of Op Inherent Resolve.
Op Inherent Resolve is:
(a) a Special Forces direct action program; &
(b) a coalition air power campaign supporting the Iraqi security forces & the Syrian Democratic Forces (namely, the Kurds).
Singapore’s support lends legitimacy for American presence in Syria & Iraq.
Through 34k air strikes & direct action by Mar 2019, partner forces were able to liberate ~110,000 sq km of land & 7.7 million people fm fanatical ISIS rule in Op Inherent Resolve.
In Feb 2022, US forces tracked & killed Qurayshi in the rebel-held Idlib (northwestern Syria).
By 2018, the SAF’s role evolved to include training (see video) the Iraqi Security Forces in:
(a) tactical-level weapons & combat tactics, along side the Australians & NZ-landers; &
(b) counter--IED TTPs, along side the Brits.
The training for the Iraqi Security Forces was led by Australia (assisted by NZ), with some trainers fm Singapore. The SAF team was deployed as part of Task Group Taji — wh. ensured that the Iraqis were tactically proficient in battle (see video).
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
1. War is not a soccer match to cheer for one side or the other, & this situation exists in part due to the failure of UNSC resolutions 1701 & 1559 — Hezbollah was one of the militias to be dissolved but it never happened.
2. UNIFIL forces deployed are not peacekeepers but a…
..force with military observers. UNIFIL troops are killed by Hezbollah, to prevent them from observing the weapons being transported, stored & used in Southern Lebanon. Sadly for the Lebanese people, they are in a failed state at war against Israel — a war Hezbollah started.
3. The IDF is engaged in Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB). The have evaluated the adversary & determined the courses of action (COAs).
4. One of the COAs is a multi-step C2 strike that used HUMINT, started with 📟 & moved to wider comms devices. At this stage…
@Mazri73 1️⃣Taiwan has defendable terrain & this renders an unseen advantage. Having previously participated in multi-domain war-games, both Australia & Singapore understand how difficult an opposed landing will be for the PLA (on the 14 possible invasion sites).
@Mazri73 ..as a strategy, not viable for the the PLA Second Artillery Corps.
4️⃣China is still trapped by the JMSDF & the USN w-in the 1st & 2nd island chains, for now. You are over estimating China’s resolve, & this is as harmful as under-estimating the PLA’s emerging naval capabilities.
@eddytzani97 1. As Dr Ng said, Singapore does not “…depend on another country to come to our rescue. If Singaporeans will not or cannot defend Singapore, there is no backstop. A strong SAF acts a deterrence against aggression towards us & keeps adventurism at bay.”
@eddytzani97 2. A few years ago, my son told me that based on his initial medical screening, he was ineligible to serve in a combat unit. I went with him for more medical tests to provide evidence he could serve — later, he completed 38 weeks of OCS in 2018 & is now a LTA in the reserves.
@eddytzani97 3. It is easy to fall for rage farming on social media by politicians (eg. protect Malay rights). Lies by state sponsored media is often unchallenged by its echo chamber.
4. In contrast, I took my son for interval training on my holiday with him & took him to a range, to shoot.
@ChasAHKnight 1️⃣Some counter terrorism efforts that exceed a country’s borders & territorial waters are in a legal grey zone.
Q: If Pakistan had managed to capture any of the operators in Operation Neptune Spear, would they be seen prosecuted under the laws of Pakistan?
@ChasAHKnight 2️⃣Other egs include a raid that would not be legal under local laws include the killing of Abd-al-Hadi Mahmud al-Haji Ali during an “unilateral helicopter raid” in Apr 2023 (in al-Suwaydah, Syria). If Assad could have captured US troops in this raid, he would conduct a trial.
@ChasAHKnight 3️⃣Strictly speaking, it should be the Palestinian Authority (PA) that should act to stop the use of hospitals by Hamas gunmen (in the West Bank). Instead, the PA has a play to slay policy to support terror. Doctrine of necessity applies.
1. The requirements for a ‘credible defense posture’ for an US ally like the Philippines (with the EEZ disputes), is very different from that of a non-aligned nation.
2. Singapore as a non-aligned nation has no allies, in the even of an armed conflict (or an invasion), &…
..needs a defence budget of SGD17.98 billion (USD13.4 billion). Each year, Singapore invests more on defence than the defence budget of any other ASEAN country but that does not mean our posture is credible.
3. The struggle for credibility is real, as there are scenarios…
..we plan for (where deterrence has failed) & there is a need to mobilise for the bigger fight to come, or face defeat.
4. Sun Tzu wrote, “victorious warriors win 1st & then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war 1st & then seek to win.” This applies to the 1962 Sino-…
(c) Malay social media influencers in Malaysia (& other countries) are on a suicide mission to defend terrorism.
4. The narrative battle to support terror is fought with bots, trolls & uses AI. Hamas is trying to present its gunmen as principled by broadcasting clips of…