(AlexAnsary) – 80 miles west of Twin Falls- Idaho, something strange is happening. Mountain Home Air Force Base is now the home of The Republic of Singapore’s newest air force base and their training is being combined with that of the US Air Force. This marks another example of foreign troops being trained within the borders of the United States. Only this time, the men being trained come from a dictatorship that enjoys close ties to China.
Alex Ansary
www.alexansary.com
December 13th, 2009
Singapore is a former British trading colony near Indonesia and is a major banking and shipping power but is perhaps more famous in the West for its tough draconian laws and strict enforcement.
In September of 2008, the first Singaporeans began arriving at the Mountain Home Air Force Base. A Press release says they’re here to train on the advanced F-15 Strike Eagles they purchased from the U.S. military.
The F-15SG is the most advanced variant of the F-15 aircraft built to date. With its ability to carry a large payload of weapons and fuel, giving it increased firepower and combat endurance, the aricraft will provide the Singapore Armed Forces with enhanced air defence and air superiority capabilities.
NEWS COVERAGE
Michael Donley, Secretary of the Air Force said “This is the latest step in a long and fruitful relationship between the two militaries; the United States and the Republic of Singapore and especially between our two air forces.”
A formal inauguration at the Mountain Home Air Force Base on Nov. 19 2009 signified the partnership between two nations that will span at least the next 20-25 years.
The ceremony honored the Peace Carvin V F-15 detachment known as the 428th Fighter Squadron, which will operate up to 12 F-15SG fighter aircraft at the base, and feature Singapore and American airmen working side-by-side.
The detachment of approximately 16 Airmen, 250 Republic of Singapore air force personnel, and 95 contractors to include pilots, weapons system officers and ground crew members, will implement air-to-air and air-to-ground training and development programs. A core group of fully qualified F-15SG air and ground crew will bring the F-15SG fighter aircraft up to full operational capability by 2012.
Mountain Home in recent years has had shorter-term training missions involving Israeli, German, British and Australian personnel. Singapore, along with Taiwan, already has F-16s at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The other locations with American-Singapore partnership units include the Peace Prairie CH-47 Chinook helicopter detachment in Grand Prairie, Texas, Peace Vanguard AH-64 Apache helicopter detachment at Marana, Ariz., and Peace Triton S-70B Sikorsky Seahawk naval helicopter detachment at San Diego. Singapore also has several training bases in Australia.
The United Arab Emirates Air Force is in Tucson, Ariz., and the Dutch have a squadron in Ohio. Some 600 German airmen and their families have been at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico since 1996.
Never before has the base been used for housing and training foreign troops on a semi-permanent-ongoing basis.
Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Republic
of Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence
Teo Chee Hean speak to the media after the Peace Carvin
V inauguration ceremony Nov. 19 2009.
CONCERNS ABOUT NOISE AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Shoshone and Paiute Indian tribes on the 290,000-acre Duck Valley reservation straddling the Nevada border fear Singapore’s new F-15s will add to noise at the 120,000-acre Saylor Creek Bombing Range, disrupting sage grouse nesting and ancient sacred landmarks.
F-15E Strike Eagles from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
“Our people still use those sites,” said Ted Howard, the tribes’ cultural resources director. “We prefer the silence, rather than being disrupted by airplanes. It’s not only during the day. You see them dropping flares at night. With them bringing in a foreign air force, it’s only going to increase.”
Katie Fite, a representative of Western Watersheds Project, wrote in a 2006 letter in the environmental impact statement: “Why are we letting planes of a dictatorship pollute our airspace, startle and stress out bighorn sheep and sage grouse, mar our clean desert skies with contrails and pollutants? We are alarmed that the citizens of Idaho, Oregon and Nevada get new and added air and visual pollution, range fires from flares, litter from chaff, noise, sonic booms, testing and use of devices of unknown kinds … with unknown effects on human health and wellbeing – to benefit the Singapore Air Force!”
INCREASE IN NUMBER OF GLOBAL AGREEMENTS BEING SIGNED IN SINGAPORE
Obama at APEC in November 2009
Obama’s recent tour throughout Asia included a stop in Singapore for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting. Singapore played host to 123 APEC-related meetings – big and small – from February to November this year. These were attended by some 14,000 delegates and the world’s media.
Obama stressed that the United States sees itself as part of the region. “Throughout my trip and throughout my presidency I intend to make clear that the United States is a Pacific nation and we will be deepening our engagement in this part of the world,” he said. “The United States will strengthen our alliances, build new partnerships and we will be part of multilateral efforts and regional institutions that advance regional security and prosperity.”
UN/Interpol Global Police Force
In October 2009, justice and foreign ministers from more than 60 countries, including the United States and China, gathered in Singapore for a meeting geared towards the creation of a global police force. The event was hosted by Interpool and the UN. Interpol called the meeting the first step in a a “global policing doctrine” that would enable Interpol and the United Nations to improve the skills of police peacekeepers, largely by sharing a secure communications network and a vast electronic trove of criminal information, including DNA records, fingerprints, photographs and fugitive notices.
GROWING MILITARY TIES BETWEEN CHINA AND SINGAPORE
In April 2009, a Senior Chinese military official said that China was interested in deepening military ties and enhancing pragmatic cooperation with Singapore. The vice chairman of the Central Military Commission also stated that cooperation between the two nations in political, economic, cultural and scientific fields had been developing continuously.
Military Commanders talk during “Cooperation – 2009”
In the video below, China and Singapore participate in their first joint military drill entitled “Cooperation- 2009.” The training exercise took place between the 18th and 26th of June 2009 in Guilin, China. The stated goal of the operation was to improve the two countries’ abilities to counter biochemical terrorism. This was the first joint operation between the two armies since each country signed the bilateral Agreement on Defense Exchanges and Security Cooperation last year.
It is clear that China is developing increased military and economic ties with a nation whose air force is being trained within our borders. This should prove to be very interesting in the years ahead especially with the latest annoucement that China will be taking on a greater role in UN peacekeeping missions.
Sources:
http://www.ktvb.com/home/Singapore-Air-Force-kicks-of-new-training-program-in-Idaho-70533172.html
http://www.mountainhome.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123178824
http://www.armybase.us/2009/05/republic-of-singapore-air-force-rsaf-f-15sg-fighters/
http://commerce.idaho.gov/news/2009/03/singapore-military-aiming-for-idaho-air-space.aspx
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010500248.html
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/11/ap_singapore_idaho_112009/
http://www.e-to-china.com/tariff_changes/server_country/singapore/2009/0402/21996.html
http://www.cctv.com/program/chinatoday/20090625/101620.shtml
http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/mindef/press_release/P-20090618-2
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/world/europe/12iht-interpol.html?_r=1
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1024161/1/.html
http://www.china-defense-mashup.com/?p=5490
Source: Alex Ansary
dprogram.wordpress.com 