Brunei Puma Reece - Feb 22

BRUNEI PUMA RECCE – FEB 22

Shortly after receiving instructions that Puma Force were needed to support Defence’s requirements in Cyprus and Brunei, recce teams were assembled to test the waters and pave the way for future detachments.

Written By: Sqn Ldr Lucas

With Brunei support required imminently, the Puma Force had to prepare to take over responsibility for the jungle training support and MEDEVAC tasks from 1 October this year.

A crew of logisticians, engineers, infrastructure specialists, and operators headed to Brunei at the start of February to judge the feasibility of locating a semipermanent Puma detachment in the infrastructure currently used by the Army’s 667 Sqn, operating the Bell 212 helicopter. Unfortunately, before face-to-face work could begin, a 7-day period in very strict isolation period had to be endured due to COVID, in distinctly average accommodation. Feeling more like Tom Hanks in Castaway with each day that passed, online meetings to begin our recce became a highlight.

A week later and after a negative PCR, we were finally released into the tropical heat of Borneo, and able to commence our recce in earnest. The team was warmly welcomed by the Army to a families’ BBQ at 667 Sqn, and later into the Officers’ Mess of the 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, for one of their famously spicy Gurkha curries – lovely stuff – as well as visiting the Chief of the Royal Bruneian Air Force at their main operating base in the capital city, Bandar Seri Bagwan. It was not all fun and games, however. The team quickly assimilated as much information as they could to inform decisions on what Puma Force would need to be able to operate safely in the jungle, taking on the mantle from the Army who have been conducting the task successfully for decades. The various subject matter experts dispersed across multiple locations to make their assessments of the largely unsung elements of every successful detachment: domestic accommodation, ops rooms, aircraft dispersals, hangars, IT, electricity and fuel supplies, comms stations, and local logistics fixers.

There was the occasional opportunity to explore more dramatic elements of the country; the jungle at Labi and the Limbang River provided an insight

Virgin Rainforest.

into the rare opportunities available to those who might volunteer for a tour in this landscape. I was lucky enough to fly with the Army over some of Brunei’s virgin tropical rainforest, a truly spectacular, and at times, intimidating landscape. To be admired, but also respected by those that venture there.

The excellent facilities already in place for the British military in Brunei will make the Puma Force’s future detachment there an enjoyable and exciting one; albeit we have the odd hurdle to overcome before we can truly settle in. This, and the proximity of so many other exciting and exotic countries within easy reach, make for a unique opportunity for current and future Puma Force personnel and those that support them.

Working Lunch .