It mostly has to do with the fact that they cross train with spec ops from various other countries, so they mostly share the same skillset and techniques.
for real. could you imagine if they sent in the *real* special forces? oh man. someone would forget their drool bib, a sippy cup for another kid. oh, and there’d always be that one who ALWAYS forgot to wear his helmet. or would put it on then take it off and laugh. what a word we live in. i wish someone would make that idea a movie.
@@randomgaming559 Yes, the negotiation was done at the front end by civilians and homeland security staffers. When the commandos were activated to storm the plane, they're not going in there to talk terms.
Breaching comes with a wave of surprise which propagates through the area, and it's important for the commandos to "ride the breach". This means quickly neutralising hostiles while moving through the area before giving them a chance to even think on their feet, and lethal force is almost necessary. Once the element of surprise is lost, the breach becomes exceedingly harder. Every second wasted is a dire cost.
I've had the privilege of meeting one of the commandos involved in the raid. He was my Division RSM during my NS days. I still remember him walking over to me to ask a question. He looked completely badass and had tons of badges on his chest. All I could think of was "Oh shit, what did I do?"
Talking about badges, i look at the conscript commandos alr im amazed by the number of jumps they did within 2 years like damn bruhh local airborne, Indonesia airborne & Thailand airborne badges all 3 within 2 years??? & I saw 1 photo whereby some even train in the snow like wtheck was that in the US?
Its to ensure they use up all rounds and avoid having to return any spare ammunition! Just think of all that administrative work and waiting at the ammo dump....( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
British SF: single shot to the head Singaorian SF: quickly finish him off with 7 shots to the face... Oh you have a spare mag? Any of the passengers wanna have a few shots at him as well? Might as well spend it while we're here
In thirty seconds all the hijackers were neutralised. And none of the passengers were injured. Big ups to the Singapore Special Forces for executing a perfect text-book example of how its done. And thanks to L.F.E. for sharing this with us. Peace, through strength.
The SAF special forces should have beheaded the terrorists and show it infront of camera towards Pakistani media. At least the Pakistan government will fear us.
One thing worth mentioning that I recall reading from somewhere: the moving of the plane to another location for refuelling was a strategic decision. The SOF operators had done numerous hijack rescue training rehearsals at that exact same spot for the same aircraft model hence, reducing the preparation time required for the real operation.
@@olengagallardo8551 The Russians have their problems. Frankly, I really appreciate their naval tactics when it comes to dealing with Somali pirates. They tend to be somewhat less tolerant towards them than our beloved president Obama da Kenyan was.
@@davidh9844 And you do realized that lack of tolerant also meant that their response to terrorist attack in mainland Russia, whilst eliminate all terrorists, come with a heavy price tag of civilian lives? i.e. Moscow Theater Hostage Crisis and Beslan School Siege. heavy-handed method is not always ideal
The strike team was from the Special Operations Force(SOF) within the Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation. It was a secret unit formed for counter-terrorist operations. At the time of the incident, all credit was given to the commandos as the existence of such a unit was kept secret. It was many years later before the existence of this unit was revealed.
A clean and neat operation which shows that in many countries, there are teams ready 24/7 to deal with situations where civilian lives are at stake. And military men mostly will put bad guys to sleep. There have been so many plane hijackings in the past, it must be hard to choose from:)) Very well made narrated with calm voice and spooky tunes!
@@yongshankoh7344 Last time there was a series of Airport films. Whole film is boring while waiting for the disaster to take place. Actually this hostage situation lasted more than 30 sec. Can incorporate a lot of other scenarios
As a Malaysian. I'm kinda jealous that Malaysia not got the opportunity to do the unicorn of special operation. Aircraft hijacking is extremely tough. Not many countries have successfully pulled off successful airplane rescue. But respect to Singapore SOF
Israel. 1976. Entebbe, Uganda. I've always looked on that as Israel's gift to both the world and the United States for our 200th Independence Anniversary. In addition to saving 102 hostages, they destroyed a quarter of Uganda's air force. I'm very happy that Singapore did not have to top that feat! The current Prime Minister of Israel's older brother was killed during the operation. He commanded it.
@@muhdaffiq8415 maksud aku aircraft hijacking. Rescue penumpang kapal terbang lain sop and tactics daripada rescue kapal laut. Aku bukan kutuk SOF kita. Cuma kalau Malaysia dapat peluang untuk selamat tebusan kapal terbang. Memang dah lengkap semua misi pasukan khas kita. Sebab PASKAL pernah buat ship hijacking rescue di Somalia dan semasa Orkim Harmony di rampas. GGK pernah buat mission direct action kat Lahad Datu dan Bosnia. PASKAU pernah buat JTAC/CAS masa ops Daulat. UTK pernah selamat tebusan ditahan banduan penjara pudu. Tinggal satu mission ja Malaysia x pernh buat. Aircraft hijacking rescue. US dengan UK kalau tak silap tak pernah dapat peluang sama. Setahu aku yang pernah selamat penumpang kapal terbang masa hijacking Perancis (GIGN), Germany (GSG9), Israel (Sayaret Matkal), Bangladesh (Bangladesh Commando), Singapura (Singapore SOF)
@@rahmatshaari7596 Ops Fajar is a maritime hijacking. Maksud aku bukan semua negara dapat peluang untuk selamat penumpang kapal terbang. US, UK pun xprnh buat aircraft hijacking rescue. Aku bukan nak kutuk SOF kita. Lahad Datu, Somalia, Bosnia tunjuk bukti pengalaman anggota kita
I worked under one of the Commandos who boarded Flight 117, dude is a through and through hardcore soldier. His office is covered from top to bottom with awards lol.
I was there when it happened. The SoF guys were assembled in all black with balaclava since 3am. They stood there all the time in their full attire waiting for the command to storm...which came only at 6:40am. I remember walking past them and telling myself I don’t envy any single one of them for they know they may die that very day. I hv nothing but the utmost respect for these guys. And I prayed to the Lord as I watched them stormed the plane that all will be well. My prayer was answered 1 min later 🙏😊. There were 2 “hiccups” though, which occurred prior and during the storming of the plane. I won’t mention what these are for only the people there knew what happened. One of these hiccups was mentioned in another post by someone here which I suspect many will gloss over it. All in all, they absolutely deserved the Medal of Valor. But take no credits away from the others who were involved too (the Ministers in Charge that day who had to make one of the toughest decisions in their lives to storm the plane, the chief police negotiator, the panel of executives comprising senior home affairs and defence personnel, all the other supporting personnel including those from the intelligence agencies). Kudos everyone. The memory’s still vividly in my mind ....
so are you saying until they kill someone then the commando can shoot back? Why not you offer yourself to free one of the hostage since they have not kill anyone? When the high jacker embark on the mission, they should expect the worse outcome. They should choose a country with weak government who will compromise.
Seriously this batch of commandos are tough as nails, I was lucky to be under one of the commandos who was in this exercise. Training was hell but during downtime, man became the unit’s father figure.
All told the operation took 7 secs. All terrorists dead. Frankly I can't think of any other operation as clinical and precise as this. In football terms, its like scoring a hat trick in five minutes flat.
I was delighted to watch the video, reliving memories from that day as a close proximity participant. The anti-hijack team is actually the Special Operations Force, an elite group within the Commandos Formation.
Sorry i am honestly confused like arent the commandos, like even the conscript commandos technically under the SOF umbrella due to their unique skillset? Or are they considered SOF only if lets say the regular commandos undergo a specific SOF training after commando training? How about the Naval Diving Unit?
John Wig SOF is within commando formation , for ndu they have SWG ( special warfare group, something like seal teams ) and those are like how to say, “special operations” and basically they are the tier 1 teams correct me if im wrong but yea thats what from my understanding
John Wig it’s a combination of all elites from all the combat units , mainly commandos itself and guardsmen/ infantry personal etc ... they gather trained and send overseas helped train by the elite forces there .
@@joshuasoh6948 Yup, there are no Guardsmen in SOTF. For personnel who've come over from Guards/ADF are considered Commandos once they've completed their crossover training.
@2017 Student WONG JUN JIE ANTHONY MFA works on diplomatic ties. The SAF provides the deterrence. It goes hand in hand. So the SAF would have accomplished it’s mission. Our military does not do offensive like US military. So it’s more of a defensive or deterrence to others.
Thank you for sharing this story; it is well known in Singapore. I served in the Singapore navy too about 10 years ago and now I have a certain level of maturity to look back and cherish my experiences
Singapore is a Diplomatic country, we do not like to put up an aggressive front. However, if provoked we are not afraid to strike back, do not take our tame nature to be a sign of weakness.
@Snom Snom The US is our friend ever since the Vietnam War. My grandfather used to work with the Americans troops stationed here at the US logistic base during the Vietnam War as their personal driver. He always like told me the Americans would always ask him where to get alcohol and whores.
1991! -this is absolutely unbelievable to me that Singapore had commandos trained to take down terrorist-hijackers along the same way as Israeli and British SAS commandos. /Bravo, Singapore!
Our divers trained with the American’s seal team , and our rangers train alongside not only with American’s elite squad, also British commandos / German and French special force frequently and more importantly we have close tie with Israelis’s IDF .
That's inconsequential. At that point in time, we dun make guesses or hope that those were fire crackers. We assume the worse case scenario - that they were armed with the real stuff and we had to do what we were trained to do.
@@emeritusdavidteo5553 I don't think the comment was in anyway meant to be disparaging regarding the decision to take down the hostages. The Commando action was brilliantly executed and the men are heroes. In my opinion too, it was definitely the right course of action as the hijackers would have caused harm in one way or another, without or without explosives.
not the main commando unit, but the special force within SAFCDOFN formed in 1985 by regulars who applied and did extremely well to train to meet the requirements
You didnt mention this but I guess it isnt super common knowledge. As they breached the plane, a negotiator who spoke in the dialect of the hijackers came on the line, which excited the hijackers, drawing all their attention to the front of the plane. This meant the commandos had the element of surprise as the hijackers were all moving forwards to hear the radio.This is what I read anyway.
Fun Fact: The negotiator was instructed to distract the hijackers over the plane-radio just as the breaches were being detonated, that's why there was 2 guys in the cockpit and the other 2 were spread out throughout the plane.
@@t4404 because some of those boys might quite possibly become a Commando or Guardsmen since all of us Singaporean males have to serve. Currently am a commander in the 7th Singapore Infantry Brigade, and the Guards battalions under my brigade do handle counter-terrorism.
I remember meeting one of the commandos who stormed the plane. I was a young recruit in tekong then when a red beret senior warrant officer greeted us during morning PT.
He was my CO during BSLC in tekong SISPEC. Later in life I went on to graduate from OCS and he was assisting the parade RSM. I went up to him to show my respect but I got a salute from him instead. Its the most undeserving moment in my entire life.
man... I am ALWAYS pumped when I see you upload a video. mainly because I know some bad ass dudes went and did some bad ass shit, usually while most people are snoring and scratching their balls. respect to all operators.
Very well done! I know little of Singapore's special forces but clearly they're very well trained. This was back in the heyday of the MP5 as an entry gun- nowadays it's mostly suppressed HK416s in that role.
my Basic Military training platoon commander and Company Officer Commanding were both involved in this operation. To MWO Francis and 1WO Pillay, respect.
I have gotten to work with Singapore Marines and Air Force in Qatar for the humanitarian operation when Afghan citizens were fleeing after the Taliban took over. Very professional people.
Saekki nope , I’m from 1st guard 106 scout , 1988 batch . My buddy was awarded sword of honor and later posted out for ranger course and later sign on as regular and then recruited into SOF .
Tsubaki Lee There’s another hijacking involving Japanese red army terrorists who bomb Singapore offshore refineries and hijack an oil company tugboat with hostages.
Never heard of this Op in the SF hostage rescue stories before. Jobs a good un, back in time for tea and medals. Well done SAF Commando, another day at the office.
9:50pm Captain Stanley Lim reported the hijacking, 10:20pm the Executive Group was formed and present in the control center. Singaporean efficiency is no joke siah
and it was the only time the control center was used at the tower. i visited the control center couple of years back... all run down unused with old wooden tables.but great view upstairs of that is the changing airport ground.
This was not done by the ordinary commandos of our SAF; it was executed by the elite troopers from our very own Special Operations Force (I may have the name spelled wrongly), which is probably part of the Singapore Commando Formation. Well done, SOF!
It is the special force within Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation, formed only by regulars who applied as regulars and went through extremely hard training to meet the requirements, to become troopers or officers in the special unit
Bro singaporean commando and guards unit go though a special 6 week US navy seal course. They are all us navy seal approved The extra training they get help to improve combat skills After this incident us uk aussie and others from around the world where shocked as this was our very first and only hijack incident. They asked us on how our commando team pull this off with no civilian fatality.
@@glassfireactual9207 The basic they already went through in the past 6 months in singapore The advanced final phase of the us seal training is what they go through there Which is pretty much on par except singapore has to train for jungle experience more Why do you think singapore is the USA's strategic economic and defence Corporation partner in the world And we are the only country with that designation. Our soldiers helped us force during the 2014 counter strike against isis We provided both medical and military help
Dang huge respect! 4 hijackers dead in 30 seconds?! In the Manila hostage crisis the authorities and the government cant even handle 1 hostage taker and leaving a handful of hostages dead, what a tragedy.
Very pleased to hear that every terrorist was killed on the spot. Anyone else out there want to mess around with Singapore? Lah? Thank you, gentlemen, with deepest regards from the US.
Was quite an incident back then. Was a year before my enlistment into the Singapore Armed Forces. Even then being fastest runner and fittest in battalion, its not easy to be chosen as a commando. That's the 1st Commando battalion SAF. Just a handful. Too Elite. What makes it even better is that the SOF (Special Operations Forces) are a bunch of the elite, from the elite Commandos. Also trained closely are the SPF (Singapore Police Force) Special Operations Command. Technically similar, hence they train together. It's much much better now. And with weapons development in Singapore itself.
Or the Marine Raiders 7 in 2007 when their commanders threw them under a bus saying they did not get attacked and they killed civilians when that a clear lie.
I think the emblem of the special operations force is not known 😅 I think he could've simply put the commandos emblem however, the truth is.. It was a formation under the commandos that did the storming which is the special operations force. Kinda like Delta force I'd say, a tier 1 unit consisting of mainly commandos and other soldiers who were from other units that converted to commandos as well. At that time, I think SOF was still a top secret unit.. Hence they just mentioned that it was commandos who did it. A lot to take in but I hoped it'd help shed light on the special forces community in SG.
