Elite Artillery Units

Hi All,

I am extremely proud and pleased that 1 ARTY had performed very well during the recent deployment to Lahad Datu, Sabah. I am proud because 1 ARTY is the First Regiment in our Corp. 1 ARTY was raised from the elite 1^st Field Bty, Federation Artillery. Even though I was commissioned into 2 ARTY and had served my early days in 2 ARTY from GPO to Regiment 2 IC over several postings, I was proud to have had commanded 1 ARTY for 6 and half years, that being the best of my service days.

Every ARTY unit should be an elite unit. When I was commissioned to E BTY 2 ARTY, the BTY was an elite BTY. We had more guns than officers back then. There were only three officers when I joined E BTY. Major John Lane was BC, the late Lt Colonel Mustapha Saad was BK and I was everything else. Section Commander/GPO/ Troop Commander/2K. Not to mention being Regiment Duty Officer almost every other day.

My first lesson as a Gunner was we are an elite unit. We are the King of the battlefield. We lend grace to what otherwise would be a bloody war. We must perform. We must excel.

We had 4 guns to the BTY and we were an elite BTY. So were all the BTYs in the Regiment. So were all the BTYs in 1 ARTY. We were all elite BTYs, similarly organized, equipped and trained to the highest standards. The BTYs were named A, B, C, D, E Btys denoting only Bty seniority from both the Regiments which had 3 gun BTYs each. All BTYs were elite and can be deployed on independent operations during the Confrontation era and Border Ops.

Officers joining the Regiments were designated NQFA (Non Qualified Federation Artillery) until we had attended and passed our YO course. We learned fast and were dedicated to our roles and responsibilities. We were a small Corp and had displayed our professionalism with pride to the envy of other corps. We are now the second largest Corp in the Malaysian Army. Are we still not an elite Corp?

Given my background experience, I am most sad that 6 ARTY which is raised and stationed permanently in Sabah did not have a significant role in the deployment to the ops in Lahad Datu. I would have thought 6 ARTY should have the honour to display our finesse. Lahad Datu is within 6 ARTY’s immediate deployment range and AO. Shouldn’t 6 ARTY be given the honour? Wouldn’t it make Artillery sense to deploy its nearest fire units? Please enlighten me. I feel really sad for the CO and all officers and Gunners from 6 ARTY.

Perhaps at Army and Corp levels we should start to learn the lessons from the now forgotten Falklands War in the 80s. Sabah/Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia is somewhat like the Argentinean mainland and Falkland Islands, separated by sea. The ground war in the Falklands, and in particular the Argentinean artillery deployment and fire support should lend us some lessons to be learnt. Least we forget Argentina lost the war.

Yes I would agree to the deployment of 1 ARTY, notwithstanding the high expenditure and logistics efforts incurred. 1 ARTY is after all with the Rapid Deployment Force. But I would say 1 ARTY should only be deployed if there were inadequate fire units on the ground. 6 ARTY should be given the privilege of the FIRST RIGHTS to the battlefield before any other regiment. I sincerely hope we can maintain this tradition that all Artillery units are elite.

Allen Lai