SINGAPORE – He turned operational and received the feted red beret just three weeks ago.

He then had to stay in camp and be on standby 24/7 in case his unit had to respond to any national security contingencies.

As a precaution amid the coronavirus pandemic, Third Sergeant Carvalho Antonio Pottier Mohammad Fakhri of the 1st Commando Battalion now finds himself hunkered down at home after his stay in camp.

Before he can go back on duty, he has to remain symptom-free for 14 days.

The full-time national serviceman’s (NSF) commando unit is part of the Army Standby Force, and all of its servicemen need to serve a 14-day Stay Home Restriction Order (SHRO) before going back to camp.

Those on SHRO are allowed to leave their homes only at prescribed times for essential needs and are required to report to their immediate superiors when they go out.

This is so that there is a degree of certainty that each batch of soldiers are fit for duty, said 1st Commando Battalion’s commanding officer Fabian Pwi, 37, in a teleconference interview on Wednesday (May 6).

Random checks and video calls are conducted to ensure compliance.

To reduce the risk of infection in camp, the commando unit has also had to put in place strict social distancing measures, such as ensuring that beds are at least 1m apart, staggering meal times and requiring servicemen to wear a mask at all times while moving around.

Said Lieutenant-Colonel  Pwi: “Being in 1st Commando Battalion, where a lot of emphasis is on camaraderie… to ask us to maintain a social distance from our buddies and fellow soldiers is very awkward…

“(But) discipline is to do things that we are not comfortable with, to do things that are awkward, especially when no one is looking.”

For 3SG Carvalho, 21, these measures were also a challenge at first.

“It was a culture shock… But we have been practising it day in and day out to the point where it is instinctive to everyone.”

He added: “Simple things like celebrating birthdays. Before Covid-19, we would just gather in the common area, but now obviously we cannot gather in such big groups anymore… so the quirky thing that we did was we would sing from inside our bunk to another bunk.”

Instead of training at the company level, training is now conducted in functional groups at the detachment level.

Said LTC Pwi: “There are a lot of administrative overheads… Buses need to be almost doubled for us to ensure there is some degree of social distancing when we transport troops.

“When it comes to training using equipment, there needs to be a turnover for us to sanitise the equipment before we hand them over to the next group.”

With basic military training (BMT) suspended across the Singapore Armed Forces, one concern for LTC Pwi is how quickly the commando unit, which is largely staffed by NSFs, can resume the intake of new recruits in order to replace outgoing cohorts.

The 1st Commando Battalion’s next intake is supposed to happen in June or July.

Said LTC Pwi: “Some services can come to a standstill but when it comes to defence, the clock doesn’t stop.

“We should still allow force generation to happen without necessarily violating any of the safety or health measures imposed at the national level, and taking care of our soldiers at the same time.”

He said he has gotten phone calls from parents who were concerned about the risk of transmission and the possibility of a cluster forming in barracks, asking for their sons to be allowed to stay at home instead.

He added: “Another concern coming from families is why can’t training take a bit of a rain check for this circuit breaker period? How detrimental can it be?

“Our reply is how does it look when the whole Army Standby Force is staying at home? The overall posture of readiness will be questioned.”

3SG Carvalho said his parents are a little worried for him but understand why he needs to go in and out of camp.

“They are proud that I can be operationally-ready to serve the country whenever I need to.”

Read the latest on the Covid-19 situation in Singapore and beyond on our dedicated site here.

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