The SAF trains hard to fight enemies, yes. But sometimes, our soldiers go beyond the call of duty to take on other tasks that no single entity in Singapore can comfortably handle.

Let these incidents remind you why sometimes it's important to give our young men in green a break. Even if they don't immediately give up their seat to you on the MRT (because there are other seats available next to them).

Hotel New World

Source

When Hotel New World collapsed in 1986, personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces put aside their guns and took up buckets and shovels instead. Beyond strong arms and sheer manpower, they provided what the police, SCDF, volunteers, and various agencies could not – helicopters to airlift casualties out to the safety of hospitals.

SARS

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Doctors, nurses and healthcare staff aside, who else would put their lives on the line to help contain a potentially fatal disease? Our soldiers, of course. At least 50 paramedics were deployed during the crisis to help nurses at Changi Airport help screen passengers arriving from SARS-hit areas.

National Day and SEA Games

Source: The Singapore Army Facebook page

Singaporeans love their national day parades, but often forget the kind of massive logistics and planning that go behind organising such a massive event. So massive, that only the SAF can handle it (and also because it's unlikely we’ll ever see the days NDP volunteers can take on the tasks our boys in green do).

We can safely say that few, if any militaries overseas have the responsibility of organising such large-scale civilian events. But for every weekend our soldiers burn, it results in such well-planned and widely praised national events.

Mr Lee’s passing

Source: Chia Aik Beng

When Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away earlier this year, Singaporeans once again looked to the SAF to get things organised. NSFs and regulars alike were deployed in force to make sure that the paying of respects to Mr Lee was as safe and comfortable as possible. This was done by setting up hundreds of tents to provide shelter, and over 2,000 barricades to make sure queues were organised.

2013 Haze

Source:

In 2013, when the haze reached record highs in Singapore, 200 SAF servicemen were tasked to issue a million pieces of N95 masks to low-income households. The masks were delivered within six hours.

True, it was the Ministry of Health and People’s Association that provided the masks, but there was no way these two had the capabilities of getting these swiftly (and decisively) delivered to so many households.

Train breakdowns (remember 7/7/15?)

You may have heard about LTA exploring use of SAF deployment in the event of a major train breakdown. This follows from the last major disruption on 7 July, where SMRT deployed additional 700 staff, pushed out free train and bus services and worked closely with the police to help manage the crowds.

Of course, LTA and SMRT could have deployed buses running parallel to the train lines. But unless you're the Oracle, no one's going to know when that next transport-related event will happen. And maintaining a whole bunch of buses and full time staff will probably raise fares up anyway.

Since predictability is unpredictable, the next best thing for LTA to do after working with the police, will be to tap on the SAF as a last resort for such nation-wide disruptions.

In chaotic situations when all other options have been exhausted, we will need our soldiers to do what they have always trained for: granting us the privilege to feel safe, even in times of uncertainty.