Arrrrh We'ah Hunting for the Black Pearl!

Shiver me timbers! Our RSN is playing Lord Admiral of the Imperial Fleet of the African Seas for a while and our mateys are going to use the Protector's Typhoon to frak some Jack Sparrows - except that those AK-47 totting pirates don't have parrots on their shoulders, pegged legs, don't like to say Yo Ho Ho and are totally not cool like the Pirates of the Caribbean Arrrrh. RSN FTW

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July 31, 2009
S'porean to lead flotilla
By Jermyn Chow

A SINGAPOREAN navy officer will take charge of an international anti-piracy patrol coalition to curb the escalating violence off the waters of Somalia.

The commander, who will be assisted by other officers from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) officers, will lead the Combined Task Force (CTF) 15 from next January for three months.

This is the first time a Singaporean is commander of a multinational peace support mission since Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) Brigadier-General Tan Huck Gim was appointed the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (Unmiset) in 2002.

Currently, the flotilla is being led by the Turkish navy.

The Singaporean naval officer, who has not yet been selected, will be commanding more than seven navy vessels that come from countries including the United States, South Korea and Australia.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced the deployment on Friday at the Changi Naval Base.

He paid tribute to the 296 men and women who were back from their three-month stint in the Gulf. They worked onboard the Landing Ship Tank (LST) RSS Persistence, with two Super Puma helicopters.

During their watch over the pirate-infested waters, they responded to 57 calls for assistance and launched 80 helicopter sorties.

'The dedication, hard work and sheer determination of each member of the Task Group has made this mission a success for Singapore.'

For their tour of duty, members of the team were awarded the SAF Overseas Service Medal.

At Friday's event, DPM Teo, who is also Defence Minister, said the deployment put paid to the SAF's ability to integrate its forces on land, air and sea.

'This demonstrates that the third-generation SAF is versatile, creative and operationally ready, capable of rapidly mobilising a wide spectrum of skills and resources to accomplish a wider spectrum of missions,' he said.