Post by Rangers on Oct 18, 2003 10:45:54 GMT 8
Combat survival course put on hold, top commando replaced, instructors suspended and investigations continuing
By Dominic Nathan
A YOUNG soldier died in what Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean described yesterday as possibly the most serious incident of its kind in the history of the Singapore Armed Forces.
Second Sergeant Hu Enhuai (right), 19, had his head held in a tub of water four times.
It was meant to simulate the treatment soldiers might endure if captured by the enemy, but left the young national serviceman dead on Aug 21.
He should never have died, the minister said, because training rules specifically forbade physical contact. And the trainers knew they were not to manhandle trainees or force water into their bodies.
TRAINING DAY:
WHAT WENT WRONG
• On Aug 21, 2nd Sgt Hu Enhuai, a sniper, and 132 other trainees were undergoing a 10-day survival training course on Pulau Tekong.
• The last field exercise involved dousing them in water. Instructors are not permitted physical contact, and are forbidden from holding a trainee's head under water, but Hu's head was submerged four times in a tub.
• He completed the session without any signs of distress, but was coughing. Minutes later, at around 4.45 pm, he collapsed. He was given CPR on Tekong, before being taken by helicopter to SGH where he was pronounced dead just before 6pm.
THE FALLOUT:
• Five instructors have been suspended. Three others relieved of their duties and the top ranking Commando officer, Colonel Noel Cheah, has been replaced.
• Investigations by both the police and Defence Ministry have begun.
Related links:
Army death a "stain on the SAF's reputation": Defence Minister - Part 1
Army death a "stain on the SAF's reputation": Defence Minister - Part 2
• Ministerial statement on the deaths
• Additional remarks by Defence Minister
Six other soldiers subjected to the same treatment that day needed medical attention, but all survived.
Rear-Admiral (NS) Teo vowed: 'I will get to the bottom of how such an unauthorised and unsafe training practice could have crept into the School of Commando Training.'
The tragedy led Mindef to suspend five instructors, four of them officers, and relieve of their duties three more responsible for supervising the training.
Mindef has also replaced the top-ranking commando, Colonel Noel Cheah, and suspended the combat survival course indefinitely.
And the case is not over: Mindef has convened a Committee of Inquiry chaired by a senior civil servant from outside the ministry. The Criminal Investigation Department is also investigating and there will be a coroner's inquiry.
Rear-Adm Teo made these revelations in a ministerial statement to answer a question by MP Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) about three recent deaths of young soldiers, including 2nd Sgt Hu.
He said 2nd Sgt Hu, a sniper, and 132 others were being trained to survive behind enemy lines. The 10-day course trains reconnaissance troopers, scouts and snipers, who operate deep in hostile territory, to survive, evade the enemy and escape if captured.
More than 6,000 men have done this training since it was introduced in 1993, with no report of anything like this, he said, though he conceded it was possible such incidents were never reported.
The trainees in this, the 80th course, came from different SAF units. Their final field exercise involved dousing them in water.
Despite knowing they were going against the lesson plan, the instructors dunked 2nd Sgt Hu four times. Afterwards, while walking to the rest area, he did not show severe signs of distress, but he was coughing, a sign water may have got into his lungs. Minutes later, at around 4.45pm, he collapsed.
The medic on site tried to revive him, before doctors took over at the Pulau Tekong medical centre around 5.10pm.
Evacuated by helicopter to the Singapore General Hospital, he arrived at 5.20pm and was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.
He died of asphyxia and near drowning, said a state forensic pathologist.
After Madam Halimah, 19 other MPs rose to ask more questions and offer a plethora of suggestions on how Mindef might improve safety and other procedures, intensify checks and make soldiers aware of their rights and how they could protect themselves.
Rear-Adm Teo said all this would be looked into.
He promised to find out the full facts and identify those responsible. The results of the investigations will be made public and those found negligent will be punished.
He also spoke about the two other servicemen who died during training - recruit Andrew Chew Heng Huat, a national serviceman; and Second Sergeant Rajagopal Thirukumaran, an army regular.
He made it plain that in both cases, all the training safety procedures had been followed without lapses.
Investigations are continuing and the causes of death will be determined by the state pathologist.
There have been 24 training-related fatalities in the army in the last 10 years but until 2nd Sgt Hu's death, none involved serious lapses by the very commanders personally responsible for looking after their men, said the minister.
He added: 'We shall not let up on hard and realistic training, but we will never compromise on safety or risk lives of our servicemen.
'It is Mindef's and the SAF's solemn commitment to taking our young men, training them well and returning them safely at the end of two or two and a half years to their families as operationally-ready soldiers.'
By Dominic Nathan
A YOUNG soldier died in what Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean described yesterday as possibly the most serious incident of its kind in the history of the Singapore Armed Forces.
Second Sergeant Hu Enhuai (right), 19, had his head held in a tub of water four times.
It was meant to simulate the treatment soldiers might endure if captured by the enemy, but left the young national serviceman dead on Aug 21.
He should never have died, the minister said, because training rules specifically forbade physical contact. And the trainers knew they were not to manhandle trainees or force water into their bodies.
TRAINING DAY:
WHAT WENT WRONG
• On Aug 21, 2nd Sgt Hu Enhuai, a sniper, and 132 other trainees were undergoing a 10-day survival training course on Pulau Tekong.
• The last field exercise involved dousing them in water. Instructors are not permitted physical contact, and are forbidden from holding a trainee's head under water, but Hu's head was submerged four times in a tub.
• He completed the session without any signs of distress, but was coughing. Minutes later, at around 4.45 pm, he collapsed. He was given CPR on Tekong, before being taken by helicopter to SGH where he was pronounced dead just before 6pm.
THE FALLOUT:
• Five instructors have been suspended. Three others relieved of their duties and the top ranking Commando officer, Colonel Noel Cheah, has been replaced.
• Investigations by both the police and Defence Ministry have begun.
Related links:
Army death a "stain on the SAF's reputation": Defence Minister - Part 1
Army death a "stain on the SAF's reputation": Defence Minister - Part 2
• Ministerial statement on the deaths
• Additional remarks by Defence Minister
Six other soldiers subjected to the same treatment that day needed medical attention, but all survived.
Rear-Admiral (NS) Teo vowed: 'I will get to the bottom of how such an unauthorised and unsafe training practice could have crept into the School of Commando Training.'
The tragedy led Mindef to suspend five instructors, four of them officers, and relieve of their duties three more responsible for supervising the training.
Mindef has also replaced the top-ranking commando, Colonel Noel Cheah, and suspended the combat survival course indefinitely.
And the case is not over: Mindef has convened a Committee of Inquiry chaired by a senior civil servant from outside the ministry. The Criminal Investigation Department is also investigating and there will be a coroner's inquiry.
Rear-Adm Teo made these revelations in a ministerial statement to answer a question by MP Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC) about three recent deaths of young soldiers, including 2nd Sgt Hu.
He said 2nd Sgt Hu, a sniper, and 132 others were being trained to survive behind enemy lines. The 10-day course trains reconnaissance troopers, scouts and snipers, who operate deep in hostile territory, to survive, evade the enemy and escape if captured.
More than 6,000 men have done this training since it was introduced in 1993, with no report of anything like this, he said, though he conceded it was possible such incidents were never reported.
The trainees in this, the 80th course, came from different SAF units. Their final field exercise involved dousing them in water.
Despite knowing they were going against the lesson plan, the instructors dunked 2nd Sgt Hu four times. Afterwards, while walking to the rest area, he did not show severe signs of distress, but he was coughing, a sign water may have got into his lungs. Minutes later, at around 4.45pm, he collapsed.
The medic on site tried to revive him, before doctors took over at the Pulau Tekong medical centre around 5.10pm.
Evacuated by helicopter to the Singapore General Hospital, he arrived at 5.20pm and was pronounced dead about 30 minutes later.
He died of asphyxia and near drowning, said a state forensic pathologist.
After Madam Halimah, 19 other MPs rose to ask more questions and offer a plethora of suggestions on how Mindef might improve safety and other procedures, intensify checks and make soldiers aware of their rights and how they could protect themselves.
Rear-Adm Teo said all this would be looked into.
He promised to find out the full facts and identify those responsible. The results of the investigations will be made public and those found negligent will be punished.
He also spoke about the two other servicemen who died during training - recruit Andrew Chew Heng Huat, a national serviceman; and Second Sergeant Rajagopal Thirukumaran, an army regular.
He made it plain that in both cases, all the training safety procedures had been followed without lapses.
Investigations are continuing and the causes of death will be determined by the state pathologist.
There have been 24 training-related fatalities in the army in the last 10 years but until 2nd Sgt Hu's death, none involved serious lapses by the very commanders personally responsible for looking after their men, said the minister.
He added: 'We shall not let up on hard and realistic training, but we will never compromise on safety or risk lives of our servicemen.
'It is Mindef's and the SAF's solemn commitment to taking our young men, training them well and returning them safely at the end of two or two and a half years to their families as operationally-ready soldiers.'