Goodbye 2016, we will not miss you. At all.

But while we mourn the loss of George Michael, Alan Rickman, Prince, Carrie Fisher and David Bowie, let’s not forget what the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) did this year to keep Singapore peaceful.

1. Converting Lim Chu Kang road into a runway

Why good?: The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was able to convert this 2.5km stretch into an alternate runway for its fighter jets to take off and land in Nov. The RSAF could also conduct recovery operations on this runway in case of emergencies.

All these were part of Exercise Torrent, a good operational test for the RSAF that only happens every five to eight years. Sure, we saw the Top Gun-esque pilots - but the support staff and engineers were out in full force too. Just check out the number of lamp posts they had to disassemble.

2. Fighting “terrorists”

Why good?: A terrorist attack is a matter of “when” and not “if”. Thus, it’s crucial that we prepare for the inevitable together as one Singapore.

Together with the Home Team, the SAF conducted the largest counter-terror exercise this Oct across Singapore.

More than 3,200 personnel were involved in this two-day operation that saw various units such as Army Deployment Force, Emergency Response Teams and Anti-Swarming Team coming together to execute this exercise.

3. Countering real pirates

Why good?: Pirates are real (and dangerous) and they don’t look like Johnny Depp.

In June this year, our Singapore Navy successfully completed its fourth command of the multinational Combined Task Force 151 in the Gulf of Aden, keeping the seas safe for international trade. The team consisted of 50 SAF personnel who coordinated operations with navies from other countries to deter and disrupt piracy.

4. Flying everywhere in the dead of night

Why good?: Because bad things can happen at anytime, usually in the middle of the night when Singapore is sleeping.

And the reason why we can sleep safely at night? The 400-odd guys from the RSAF, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and Singapore Police Force who executed Ex Vigilant Shield recently, an air defence exercise that involves coordinated responses to a simulated hijacked aircraft heading for Singapore.

5. Creating some ship called the Littoral Mission Vessel (LMV)

Why good?: It gives the Fearless-class Patrol Vessels a good break. While it’s hard to say goodbye, they have been serving the nation for some 20 years and they probably deserve a good break. The new and improved Littoral Mission Vessels are faster, smarter and gives the Navy greater versatility in handling different mission requirements.

October 2016 marked the launch of the third LMV, with the first two LMVs launched on July 2015 and April 2016 respectively. There will be a total of eight fully operational LMVs by 2020. Oh, and these vessels are built by ST Marine. #supportlocal

6. Hanging out with bigger countries

Why good?: Hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force in Aug, Ex Pitch Black, get this, is the largest multilateral air combat exercise held in Australia. This year's edition involved some 2,800 personnel and 115 aircraft from 10 participating countries.

Our guys got to test their air combat skills against simulated threats in a challenging and realistic training environment in both day and night conditions.

So when our little red dot gets invited to a party featuring Australia, United States and other big countries, is it a sign that we are kinda cool too?

7. Giving recruits a choice to choose their NS vocations

Why good?: Because everybody loves choices. True, it’s not the same as choosing what movies to watch or swiping right (or left) but it’s important to have soldiers who are happy (at least kind of happy) doing what they are doing as they carry out their National Service.

8. Building the Belrex Protected Combat Support Vehicle (PCSV)

Why good?: It’s always good to have high-tech combat service vehicles supporting our soldiers. Especially one that can hit a top speed of 110km/h, seat eight soldiers and comes equipped with a 7.62mm Remote Machine Gun.

Oh, it’s almost like a Transformer as it can be reconfigured into 10 different variants such as security, signal, and reconnaissance.

Not bad for a Combat Support vehicle, not bad at all.

9. The land, air, sea exercise down under

Why good?: It’s always heartening to see our three services coming together for a joint exercise. Why? Because the armed forces don’t work in silos; defending the country has to be a joint effort.

And the chance to execute an amphibious beach landing operation involving air, land and sea assets with more than 2,100 personnel from SAF and the Australian Defence Force?

It’s just too good a training opportunity to pass up.

10. Flying the real Mothership

Why good?: Because we need a real Mothership to watch over Singapore. Affectionately termed the RSAF’s “biggie”, the aerostat provides 24/7 low-level radar coverage, keeping a lookout for potential aerial and maritime threats.

--

So while we’re counting down to 2017,let’s not forget the countless servicemen for making Singapore a safe home for all of us.

All photos from Mindef and Cyberpioneer.

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.

This sponsored post fuels Mothership so that we can give positive demonstrations all the time.