Pasir Laba Camp

Pasir Laba Camp (Abbreviation: PLC) is an installation of the Singapore Armed Forces. It is composed primarily of Army tenant units, apart from tri-service SAF Warrant Officer School. It is considered the home of the Warrant Officer and Specialist Corps, just as SAFTI Military Institute is the home of the Officer Corps.

Location

Pasir Laba Camp is located at the intersection of Pasir Laba and Upper Jurong Roads. By virtue of their locations, Pasir Laba and Sungei Gedong Camps both control the entrances to the SAFTI Live Firing Area, of which they are restricted to military personnel only.

Pasir Laba Camp seen from the SAFTI Military Institute Tower.

History

SAF Training Institute (SAFTI) was constructed at Pasir Laba Road since 1961, with preparations to construct the area. It replaced 10 squatters which was cleared by the government in 1960, meant for the construction of Singapore Military Forces (SMF) Western Headquarters, training ground and live-firing facilities. While the site was being built, SAFTI was housed at Jurong Town Primary School. Other potential site such as Pulau Tekong were being considered since 1963. SAFTI at Pasir Laba Road was opened on 18 June 1966.

In 1980, several tenant units including School of Infantry Specialists and School of Infantry Weapons were located at the site together with HQ Infantry (now 9DIV/Inf). Officer Cadet School was given the sole right to the name "SAFTI", while the other units were housed in what was known as Pasir Laba Camp.

However, this left the men of Pasir Laba Camp feeling like second class residents. As a result, Pasir Laba Camp was renamed "SAFTI" once again on 31 May 1986. This lasted until Officer Cadet School and various other officer-training institutions were moved to a new complex, SAFTI Military Institute, along Upper Jurong Road on June 1995. It was renamed to Pasir Laba Camp back again.

As the Army grew, new training centres such as the Basic Combat Training Centre (BCTC), People's Defence Force Training Centre and Infantry Training Centre were established to meet the various training needs. On 1 July 2004, as part of the Army's transformation, the three Centres were merged to form the Infantry Training Institute (ITI) with the aim of enhancing the training system and to optimise resources through centralisation. ITI shifted to Jurong Camp 2 in 2008, it provides better training facilities and easier access to various training areas. BCTC was originally a small camp at Pasir Laba, however it was closed down in December 2009 and became Pasir Laba Ammunition Depot.

Tenant units

The anchor tenant of Pasir Laba Camp today is Headquarters, Training and Doctrine Command (HQ TRADOC). Notable is a company of aggressors who serve as enemy simulators for infantry battalions' performance evaluation.

Other tenant units are the Specialist Cadet School and SAF Warrant Officer School, the key institutes training the Warrant Officer and Specialist Corps. Other training schools present include School of Military Intelligence and School of Infantry Weapons.

Training Resource Management Centre (TRMC) and Headquarters Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), which controls and maintains the SAFTI Live Firing Area in addition to other functions, is conveniently located here as well. It allows the control of various military training areas (Neo Tiew, Neo Tiew HDB, Lim Chu Kang, Ama Keng, Murai, Cemetery North, Wrexham, Jalan Bahar, Poyan Reservoir, Sarimbun Reservoir, Sungei Gedong & Jalan Bahtera) as many units from HQ Specialist and Warrant Officer Institute, Army Training Doctrine Command, School of Infantry Weapons, SAF Military Intelligence Institute, 1st Military Intelligence Battalion, HQ Armour, 42nd Battalion Singapore Armoured Regiment, 38th Battalion Singapore Combat Engineers and 23rd Signals Battalion are able to permit entry into these areas. However, TRMC and TRADOC also controls and maintains other military training areas as well.

A new Multi Mission Range Complex (MMRC) has been opened on 4 October 2013 to hone the marksmanship of soldiers.

Support units

Camp Commandant's Office (CCO) provides additional vehicular and logistic support to the tenant units on top of their organic inventory. A medical center under command of CCO provides medical support to all tenant units during office hours, and to SAFTI Military Institute and Jurong Camp after office hours, when their own medical centers are closed. It also provides 24-hour support to units training in the southern part of the SAFTI live firing area, namely the Peng Kang Hill, FOFO Hill, Bunker Hill, Elephant Hill and Good Morning Hill/Chua Chu Kang Hill. It also included the Matador Range and M210 Range.

The rest that are not listed are all under Sungei Gedong Camp (Area A, Area B, Area C, Area D, Armour, FIBUA Controls).

External links