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  5. 1996/05 - Peace Prairie Detachment
Second generation (1985 to 2005)

1996/05 - Peace Prairie Detachment

Exercise/Operation

Peace Prairie Detachment

Helicopters

CH-47 Chinook

Fighter Jets

F-16 Fighting Falcon

Year

1996

The RSAF launched Peace Prairie in the US, training Chinook crews alongside US forces to boost operational proficiency.

The Peace Prairie detachment was inaugurated on 22 May 1996, when an agreement was signed between Singapore and the United States to base the RSAF's CH-47 Chinooks at the Grand Prairie Army Aviation Support Facility in Dallas, Texas. The RSAF aircrew underwent flight training in Alabama while ground crew trained with the Chinook manufacturers in Philadelphia. Upon completion, both crews began advanced training alongside their US counterparts in Dallas.

Group of people in military uniforms posing in front of a Chinook helicopter.

In 2005, a 47-man team from the Peace Prairie detachment was deployed for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations in New Orleans.

A gray helicopter parked on a tarmac.
“Due to our lack of training airspace, the Chinooks and their crew will initially be training in the US with the US Army National Guard. From our experience with the F-16s, such an arrangement will shorten the learning curve and enable us to quickly gain operational proficiency.”

Dr Tony Tan, Minister for Defence, 1994 on the mutually beneficial and fast-paced Peace Prairie Detachment

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