SINGAPORE — A five-member Committee of Inquiry (COI) has been convened to investigate the death of late Corporal First Class (National Service) Aloysius Pang, Mindef said in a statement today.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen will also be delivering a ministerial statement to address recent National Service (NS) training deaths at the next Parliamentary sitting on February 11.
The ministry said that the COI was convened last Friday. It will be chaired by a judge nominated by the State Court.
Its other members include a consultant medical specialist, a member of the External Review Panel on Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Safety (ERPSS), a member of the Workplace Safety and Health Council, and a senior-ranked National Serviceman.
None of the COI members work within Mindef or are SAF regulars.
“The COI has full powers and access to material and witnesses to investigate the circumstances leading to the death, determine the contributory factors and make recommendations to rectify any lapses uncovered to enhance safety of training and operations,” Mindef said.
The COI is expected to submit a report of its findings to the ERPSS for review. The ERPSS will then release a public written report on the COI findings.
On January 19, Pang, an armament technician, was on reservist and participating in an artillery live-firing exercise in New Zealand when he was crushed by a lowered gun barrel in the Singapore self-propelled howitzer (SSPH) he was repairing.
He suffered major trauma injury affecting multiple organs and died four days later.
In addition to its announcement today, Mindef also provided details on the standard operating procedures behind the self-propelled howitzer, which is an artillery gun mounted on an armoured chassis.
The SSPH was locally developed by ST Engineering Land Systems and commissioned in 2003.
In the last 15 years of SSPH operations, there has not been any reported injury of servicemen due to the gun lowering for maintenance or operating in or firing of the howitzer, said Mindef.
Over the last 15 years, more than 1,000 servicemen, including NSmen and regulars, have been trained to operate the SSPH, with around 12,500 rounds fired in total.
The SSPH is operated by a four-man crew, comprising the gun commander, charge loader, ammo loader and driver.
Before a gun barrel is lowered, the crew is expected to follow drills stipulated in the operator manual. Among others, the gun commander will conduct both visual and vocal checks to ensure that no crew is in the travel path of the barrel.
In the event that the SSPH requires maintenance work during training and operations, a team of Army technicians, such as Pang, will be activated and this team would take charge of the SSPH.
Mindef said that Operationally Ready NSmen Army technicians undergo a refresher course called Maintenance Vocational Training to refresh their technical and maintenance knowledge during every in-camp training duty.
The safety timeout that was called after Pang’s death will also remain in place until the SAF is satisfied that training and other activities can be conducted safely, Mindef added.
Pang’s death was the fourth NS training fatality reported since September 2017. It gripped the nation and triggered an outpouring of grief from friends, family and fans.
Hundreds, including veteran celebrities like Zoe Tay and Fann Wong, attended the wake held over the weekend. Pang was accorded a military funeral service and cremation at Mandai crematorium on Sunday. — TODAY
