Another milk run

It was to be the mother of all milk runs. Frustration was all time high and morale was all time low. I had always loved ops and logistics. Any SO2 Log would have no problems running the logistics support for normal operations, even at Div level. Logistics procedures were all written in the SOPs. I just oversee the logistics requirements. But this was to be my biggest ever logistics ops I had experienced.

I was SO2 Log in KL Garrison, handing mostly movement of troops for big parades in KL and bodevacs in transit from all over Malaysia. I thought transiting big body of troops and impromptu bodevacs were big problems. I had also taught Admin and Logistics in LATEDA.

Nothing came near to this experience.

Mid 1980s. Sibu airport. I deployed the DMA to support 1 Div’s biggest ever cordon and search ops in RASCOM area named OPS JALA AMAN ONE. 1 Div had cordoned off a sizeable group of the enemy stretching from Batu 10 to Julau. I am not sure if there was ever a DMA deployed for ops. DMA were for exercises and tutorials. This time I even had to do a staff check for body bags.

Two battalions were deployed from 3 Bde and another 2 battalions from 5 Bde in addition to RASCOM’s own 2 battalion, forming a tight ring to the cordoned off area. Troops were literally deployed shoulder to shoulder.

Two Armoured squadrons were deployed for patrolling the outer ring road and Artillery support was not required, even though a troop of Guns from 5 Arty Lok Kawi was deployed .  At a later stage we had a squadron of RGK deployed from Sungei Udang Melaka. We even deployed a whole infantry battalion from Sandakan, Sabah straight into the cordon line in less than 12 hours. The Charlies came to off load the troops on the airstrip. Nuris were flying out the platoons. One Nuri directly behind the other like a scene in a war movie.

We had the full squadron of 6 Nuri helicopters from Labuan, complete with the GLO in support. The Nuri Squadron operated from Sibu airport.

TAC HQ 1 Div was deployed to Kem Oya, 3 Bde Tac was deployed to Sri Aman, whilst 5 Bde TAC HQ was deployed to Julau. RASCOM HQ remained in Sibu town.

In spite of the cordon and search ops being the biggest ever, we were not doing very well. It became a nightmare when we had casualties almost every night. It was the most tense ops I had ever supported. Contacts every night. Bodevacs by Nuri every day from the ops area to Kuching, and after prayers in the camp Madrasah, bodevac by Charlie to Peninsular.

It was reported that an Iban warrior named Ubong,who unfortunately was an ex Signals personnel, was leading the enemy group. Ubong processed magic powers or so it seems. He was “seen” and “felt” everywhere. Fear was overbearing among the troops. We had contact reports every night. Every shadow, every movement of the leaves was the enemy, causing aimless fire. Much later during the Board of Inquiry we saw troops were actually firing at tree top levels. Branches were scarred by heavy rifle fire. Claymores were triggered off by themselves. Most of our casualties were blue on blue.

All troops in the front line were hysterical. Something most unexplainable.

Redeployment movements of small groups of troop and small arms ammo resupply was a daily tasking. We would drop off small arms ammo at designated drop off points (DZs). There was inadequate helicopter support.

I foresaw that a Board of Inquiry would be imminent after the ops. There was an unprecedented large number of casualties. At the DMA, I briefed my logistics staff. Logistics must not fail in this ops. Difficult as it was, we must not fail the troops. We must deliver. I must deliver. We do not want the blame game pointing to poor logistic support for this ops.

I personally attended to the ammo resupply by air. We were really short of Q personnel and OPDEMs for ammo and claymore kept coming in. One evening we were not too sure for the exact location of the new DZ near Julau. I volunteered to assist the ammo delivery. An infantry section would normally meet us at the DZ. We flew over the DZ area but could not see any marker panels. The Nuri was low on fuel and had to return to Sibu. We spotted an open field near a school. I requested the pilot to drop the ammo there before he returned to base for fuel. There were no soldiers in sight. Luckily there were some civilians near the school. They helped us to off load the ammo for us. The helicopter pilot signaled that he was going back to base and promised to return for me after refueling.

 I was the only person left on the field with the stack of ammo. I had to guard the stack of ammo all by myself. I took stock. I had 4 magazines of 20 rounds each for my M16 and two clips of 9mm for my pistol. I felt like a silly idiot. I wondered how I could have got into a tight situation like that. The SO1 Log was all by himself.

I asked the civilians who had helped us if they knew if there were soldiers nearby. They said yes, in Julau about 2 Km away. I asked them to call for help from the soldiers in Julau. They did and a section of soldiers came and took over guarding the stack of ammo in the field.

It was late in the evening. I had no radio and the helicopter did not return as the pilot had promised. I gave up waiting and walked the 2 KM to Julau. I was stranded for the night in Julau. I could call for my Rover the next day.

2300 hours.  We were still drinking our coffee at the Tac HQ in Julau. A distress call came from the Ironside Net. Officer down. 3 km from Julau by road and 2 km by tracks to the sector. We had a night medevac by air the previous week during the ops. But not so late as 2300 hours. This time no chance of another night air medevac.

We could not do a night medevec on foot either, fearing a blue on blue situation.  The location was inaccessible for the APCs. Rescue could only be at first light. I went to the location with the medevac team, A doctor was with us. Unfortunately we lost the officer who had succumbed to loss of blood and shock.

Flame throwers were just being brought into service by the Malaysian Army. The only unit that had them first was PULADA, which was holding courses in the deployment and use of the flame throwers.

The GOC requested for some flame throwers. I organized it within 24 hours. But not without problems. The fuel for the flame throwers were too volatile to fly out. No civilian airlines will take it. Not even TUDM. The flame throwers came on the next Charlie flight but without its flammable fuel and also an instructor from PULADA. We were to get ingredients for the fuel from Shell Refinery, Miri.

I flew out in a Nuri to Miri together with an ammo technician(AT). We bought the necessary ingredients and flew back to Sibu. Liquid nitrate is very volatile and had to be hand held without shaking it too violently. The AT said  “Tuan tolong pegang ini” I said “Terima kasih, Tuan takut sangat, baik AT pegang, AT pakar, Jaga baik baik ya?”

There was also a lighter side contrasting to the somber mood during the ops. When the flame throwers were in place, and we managed to get the flammable ingredients for it from Miri. The AT need to mix the ingredients by using a weighing machine. A market or kitchen scale would do. So we purchased a standard market scale and flew it to the forward location. The urgent need for a scale was still demanded the next day. What? Didn’t we flew in one the previous day, together with the fresh ration resupply? A quick search found the critical weighing scale in the dapur. The QM had delivered it to his cookhouse instead to the AT.

As in all ops there would be high moments. I deployed light. My Rover Group comprise a batman cum escort and two radio operators. An HF radio on the Div Admin Net and a VHF radio to talk to the GLO located at the air strip, and to the helicopter pilots. I had a foldable butt M16 rifle and a 9 mm Browning pistol. An FFR Land Rover and a canvas camp bed gave me all the mobility and comfort I needed. I slept anywhere and everywhere. My group was as light as could be.

My batman cum escort was Ranger Balloon from HQ 1 Div. He bore the fiercest permanent rifle green tattoos I had ever seen. Agi idup Agi Ngalaban and all. He is a Sarawak Iban soldier. Ranger Balloon would not accept any stripes even after 15 years of dedicated service. He just aspires to be a good rifleman.

The road between Sibu Airport and Kem Oya is a classified Black road. It can’t be any blacker than Sibu- Oya road. It was “their” road. Wives going from Kem Oya to Sibu town for their weekly marketing need heavy armoured escorts.

One morning, I was in the DMA when the GOC at 1 Div Tac HQ called for an O group. I readied my rover group to move to Kem Oya. Ranger Balloon came up to me and said “ Jangan Pergi Tuan. Aku Pergi. Biar Aku mati” Ranger Balloon was concerned for my safety as we had two enemy ambushes along the route just weeks ago. I was most humbled for his thoughts and personal sacrifice. Here for the first time in my entire career, a subordinate offered to die for me.

I could only reply firmly to Ranger Balloon “Terima Kasih Balloon. Tuan mesti pergi Kem Oya pagi ini. Mari kita pergi bersamasama, Balloon jaga saya baik baik.”

The ops raged on. The nightmares rage on and it was a fiasco in the making.

Back in Kuching, our families in both the Kem Semanggoh and Kem Penrissen were not coping with the ops very well. They could not cope with the daily bodevacs by helicopters. Their anxiety broke into fears and hopelessness. The daily and night thalils, just too many, took a toll on our families.

I took a lift back to Kuching by a Helicopter. We landed in Kem Penrisson and I went home for a while. Word got out that I had come home. A dozen wives came to my house and asked for news in the ops area. Peggy told me that our wives were terrified each time they hear a helicopter circling to land. They would gather immediately to each others’ home for comfort and prayers. I took the cue that we should never land in either of the camps. I notified DMA to inform the pilots that all landing areas in our camps in Kuching were out of bounds. Our bodevacs were landed at Kuching Airport and the body bags brought back to the camp Madrasah by three tonners.

My greatest appreciation was to Army Log Div, 1 Div and Bde Logistics staff. I was given full empowerment to act, no questions, and no further clearance needed.  I delivered. Logistics rose to the occasion. We fought the good battle. Thanks also to the superb air support by TUDM.

This ops was our Waterloo. Another milk run not. How do we forget the tears of our widows?

Allen Lai