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- Chapter 7: Business as usual
Chapter 7: Business as usual
MINDEF kept operations going during COVID‑19 via virtual work, safety measures, local production, a resilient mindset, and ongoing innovation to support missions effectively.
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Illustration: Mr Lee Xin Li
Introduction
It was seven months after the outbreak of COVID-19 in Singapore. LTC Daniel Perh, Commanding Officer (CO) of 6th Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment (6 SIR), sat in his office in Maju Camp and scrolled through yet another new COVID-19 Ops Directive on his computer. “Physical cohesion activities will continue to be prohibited...”. He glanced at the whiteboard. Golden Jubilee Milestone Parade? Cancelled. Bowling Cohesion? Nope. Archery Tag in camp? Nope. One by one, his list of team-building ideas scribbled on the board had to be struck off - until nothing substantial remained.
He was concerned that his soldiers' sense of belonging and camaraderie would be eroded, because to him, “Traditional gatherings like makan sessions and sports are invaluable shared experiences that bond the men and women in the battalion.” It seemed that these bonding activities were no longer possible to safeguard the health of his people.
Going virtual
When COVID-19 struck, this was a problem for many SAF commanders as the routine training, operations and bonding activities posed a potential health risk to our soldiers. Would we have to choose between the two? But the answer was clear - it was not either-or but and. We had to do both.
As LTC Perh recounted, “Sacrificing either need was not an option. It's our duty to train the battalion to be operationally ready within the two years of full-time National Service, and the team firmly believed that cohesion was an absolutely necessary building block for all of the battalion's other achievements to be built upon 1.” Having settled that fundamental principle, his team huddled to work out ways to build cohesion without in-person interactions.
Using Zoom to conduct activities was one obvious solution. Knowing the popularity of mobile games among young people, someone suggested an e-sports competition. LTC Perh noted that, “We had to find ways to continue generating shared experiences and reinforcing shared identity, and video conferencing and social media became invaluable tools for the command chain to reach out to the soldiers and their families.”
LTC Perh and his team knew that virtual interactions could not have the same impact as interactions in person for forging bonds. Nevertheless, they tried their best to look for creative ways to get around the restrictions brought by the pandemic. They did not allow themselves to get stuck in a dichotomous mindset, in which goals seem mutually exclusive. Instead, they adopted a bridging mindset and focused on compatible and, even better, mutually reinforcing goals.
1 SAF LCM
Team Building and Team Learning (TBTL) is one of the six Leadership Development practices in the SAF, and Developing Team is also an important skill in the SAF Leadership Competency Model (LCM). TBTL practice and the Developing Team skill enable the leader to build and strenghten team dynamics to achieve team performance. Click here to read more about TBTL and the other Leadership Development practices in the SAF, or here to read more about the Developing Team skill in the SAF LCM.

Commanders and soldiers of 6 SIR coming together in a virtual “Amazing Race”. Source: MINDEF

Commanders and soldiers of 6 SIR coming together in a virtual “Amazing Race”. Source: MINDEF
Carrying on, protected
Air and land cross-border travel slowed to a crawl in the early days of COVID-19, but maritime trade continued to flow steadily, transporting goods and critical supplies to ports all over the world. Maritime trade is critical for Singapore's economy and we have to ensure the security of our waters and the ships that pass through. This important mission is undertaken by, among others, the Republic of Singapore Navy's (RSN) Accompanying Sea Security Team (ASSeT).
LTC Brandon Choo, CO of 180 Squadron of the RSN's Naval Diving Unit, had to ensure that his team of ASSeT troopers, comprising both Regulars and NSFs, could continue to board merchant vessels calling at our port without being exposed to a greater risk of COVID-19.

As frontliners, ASSeT troopers were among the first people in Singapore to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Source: MINDEF
So LTC Choo worked closely with the Maritime Security Task Force and HQ RSN to explore new concepts of operations. ASSeT adapted its risk-weighted approach in the selection of vessels to board. LTC Choo and his team made sure that the ASSeT troopers, being essential frontliners, were among the first in Singapore to be vaccinated against COVID-19. They also reviewed their tactical procedures to include safe distancing measures and regular testing, and integrated enhanced protective equipment, such as N95 masks, for their operations. With these protective measures, ASSeT troopers carried on with their boarding operations while remaining safe from COVID-19.

Armed ASSeT troopers from 180 Squadron play an important role in protecting our sea-borne trade, as more than 1,000 ships pass through the Singapore Strait each day.
Source: MINDEF

ASSeT troopers climbing up a ladder to board a merchant vessel for a spot check.
Source: MINDEF
We'll make things work
In the early days of the pandemic, the RSN implemented comprehensive measures to ensure that potential COVID-19 cases were quickly detected, their contacts traced, and they were isolated outside of their ship. If a COVID-19 case was detected when the ship was at sea, the ship had to return to harbour - unless it was deployed for a critical operation or overseas exercise, in which case even more safeguards would be taken to minimise spread among the crew.
For RSS Supreme, which sailed to Hawaii in June 2020 to participate in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) 2020, this meant that there would have to be adaptations to the operations on board. She was going to the world's largest maritime military exercise and this would be the SAF's first engagement with foreign militaries since the start of the pandemic. It was just as important to protect our sailors from the virus as it was to focus on mission success. Some living spaces on board were repurposed as isolation and quarantine facilities in case of an outbreak. The crew was trained to handle more complex engineering contingencies in case some members came down with COVID-19. Large-scale and live planning conferences were replaced by weekly virtual huddles to allow all countries to respond more quickly to COVID-related changes. With the robust planning and a comprehensive set of safety measures, RSS Supreme was able to complete the deployment successfully and safely.

RIMPAC 2020 participants sailing in formation.
Source: MINDEF
Back home, as the COVID-19 situation developed, the RSN worked hard on resolving the problem of how to carry on full operations while managing the risk of infection. The subsequent emergence of the more transmissible and less virulent Omicron variant, and a young and fully-vaccinated sailor population that was regularly screened, gave the RSN leadership the confidence that COVID-positive sailors would be unlikely to develop serious complications. While the HRP at the national level gave some assurance that recovery in place was workable, there was a significant difference in that a ship accommodated many more people living in close proximity within a confined space.
After carefully monitoring the evolving conditions, and equipped with the experience from RIMPAC 2020, the RSN was convinced that COVID-positive sailors could similarly recover safely on board ship while out at sea. Recover@Sea was implemented in November 2021. There was a solution because the RSN did not settle for an either-or outcome. It was possible to be operational while also ensuring that the sailors' health would not be jeopardised.

One-way ventilation air flow system directing contaminated air out of ships to enable Recover@Sea.
Source: MINDEF

Shipboard isolation (left) and quarantine (right) facilities with separate ventilation air flow circuits on board RSN ships to enable Recover@Sea.
Source: MINDEF
A shift in mindset
There were other instances where commanders across the SAF had to find ways to meet conflicting objectives when the pandemic affected their normal routines. Units such as 3 SIR, 3rd Battalion, Singapore Guards and 40 SAR, to name a few, continued their rotation training and completed operational evaluations. Training institutes conceptualised new modalities locally to replace overseas exercises.

Soldiers from 16th C4I Battalion completed their Army Training Evaluation Centre (ATEC) Stage 2 Evaluation in June 2021 during Phase 2 Heightened Alert, by implementing SMM during training.
Source: MINDEF
Cohorting was important for ensuring continued operational readiness. This mitigated the risk of COVID-19 clusters derailing key operational functions within the SAF. In the COUs of the RSAF, it provided for redundancies while maintaining a sustainable tempo for the airmen on duty and on standby. In Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) units, analysts and operators adapted their operating models and deployed across multiple locations while maintaining seamless integration and ops continuity. As training exercises which used to be conducted overseas were now carried out locally, engineers and technicians across the SAF worked on ensuring a high state of readiness of equipment and platforms to support higher local training demands, while reorganising the workshop spaces to allow cohorting.
Click here to view the successful conduct of ATEC Stage 2 Evaluation by 3rd Battalion, Singapore Guards despite COVID-19 restrictions.

Business as Usual - the Army Half Marathon in a virtual and distributed mode in November 2021.
Source: MINDEF
These were a few examples of how SAF leaders met the challenge of COVID-19 head-on and found ways to enable “business as usual” in operations. And so the SAF could continue to train, maintain operational readiness, and safeguard Singapore's peace and security 24/7 even as it dedicated significant resources to supporting the WoG efforts in the various COVID-19 task forces. This mindset of rejecting trade-offs and accepting competing requirements and demands will become increasingly important for the SAF in the years ahead.

Commemorating Army55 in 2020 with activities, such as the #OurArmyFamily run and formation fitness challenges, organised to promote participation in a distributed manner, alongside other digital events to engage audiences on the Army heritage and stories.
Source: MINDEF
Doing more with less
While the solutions set out here were common-sensical and uncomplex, what was noteworthy was the mindset that enabled the SAF to carry on “business as usual” so that no conflicting demands had to be compromised. More than ever, as our operating environment is increasingly characterised by competing demands and tensions, SAF leaders must have a robust and resilient mindset. We must not start off by assuming that any solution will need mitigations and trade-offs. We have to shake off the “Tyranny of the OR” and not set limits on possibilities. It is good for our commanders to open their minds and even challenge first principles and deep-seated assumptions. Otherwise, they will have self-imposed constraints that make them miss opportunities to generate innovative solutions.
Tyranny of the Or and Genius of the And
In his book Built to Last, Jim Collins sought to answer the question: How do some companies prosper over a long time, through multiple product life cycles and multiple generations of active leaders, in a dynamic, global and multicultural world?
Of the many aspects of the companies that Collins analysed, one feature he noted was that such companies “do not brutalize themselves with the Tyranny of the OR”. He defined Tyranny of the OR as the purely rational view that you can have either A or B, but not both. Strong and resilient companies reject having to choose, for instance, between stability or progress, conservative practices or ambitious goals.
Collins found that the best companies instead embraced the Genius of the AND - which is the paradoxical view that allowed them to pursue both A and B simultaneously. Rather than choose between A or B, they figure out a way to have both A and B.
A robust and resilient mindset is critical as we work on force transformation. Our experience during the pandemic, when SAF units had to quickly adopt new concepts and tap on technology to achieve full outcomes, was most instructive. It points us to think hard about what we must do so that the SAF can continue to transform even in the face of constraints; can do more with less. Some of these efforts are already underway and provide a glimpse of how the SAF can meet seemingly competing objectives with tighter resources.
Manpower is one obvious area where we will have to do more with less, as the birth rate shows no sign of picking up. We are already reviewing the medical classification system, so that the focus is on the operational effectiveness of each individual instead of the binary classification of combat-fit and non-combat-fit. We can then better deploy people to vocations that best match their functional abilities and skillsets. There is also much potential for exploiting technology to augment our people's operational effectiveness. Such measures will enable the SAF to fully harness the capabilities of every single person, as well as to do more with fewer people.
Our operational mental models will also need to shift. Traditionally, military planning processes tend to simplify demands and chart courses of action with generally linear pathways to the objective, so that it is easier for tactical action. But what confronts us now is a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous and Disruptive (VUCA-D) environment in which multiple seemingly contradictory and competing objectives are commonplace and the norm. Instead of looking for trade-offs and compromises, the SAF must be adept and comfortable operating in such an environment. In the multi-dimensional battlespace of the 21st century, this shift in operational mental models is necessary if the SAF is to develop strategies and plans that enable us to win. The Genius of the AND will serve us better than the Tyranny of the OR.

9th Singapore Infantry Brigade successfully conducted their ICT in September 2020 by utilising a hybrid approach, to allow essential operations and planning to carry on despite SMM/COVID-19 restrictions.
Source: MINDEF