The HQ Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosive Defence Group is a group formed by various

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

(SAF) units to enhance

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

capabilities and provide an immediate response in the event of chemical and biological incidents. HQ CBRE Defence Group also works closely with the

Singapore Civil Defence Force The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is a uniformed organisation in Singapore under the Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore), Ministry of Home Affairs that provides emergency services such as firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency med ...

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; hum ...

, Ministry of Health, Ministry of the Environment, as well as the Defence Science and Technology Agency and DSO National Laboratories.

Organization

The group consists of two battalions from the Singapore Combat Engineers — the 36th and the 39th, specializing in

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fu ...

and

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

and radiological defence respectively. CBRE work closely with the Medical Response Force (MRF) which is the Elite medical arm of the Singapore Armed Forces Medical Corps. The MRF main task is to manage and treat casualties from a chemical or biological attack. The CBRE's task on the other hand is to secure and clear the area during a chemical or biological attack. MRF comes directly under the SAF Army Medical Services (AMS).

Notable exercises

On 17 January 2003, CBRE Defence Group conducted an exercise code-named Exercise Diamond Shield to demonstrate its capability in counter-terrorism. Another exercise was conducted on 20 January 2006, with simulated multiple CBRE incidents. In September 2005, CBRE Defence Group took part in a bilateral exercise with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

code-named Star Lion in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, to enhance its preventive and responsive capabilities. They also featured prominently in Exercise Northstar V, held on 8 January 2006 and involving an enactment of bombing and chemical attacks at four Mass Rapid Transit stations and a bus interchange.

Organization

Notable exercises

References

Further reading