RIMBA, Thursday 29 May 2014 – Preparation for the Royal Brunei Armed Forces 53rd anniversary celebrations is less than a week away. Today’s full rehearsal at the Royal Brunei Air Force Base in Rimba was eventful with Senior Officials of the Ministry of Defence, RBAF and Jabatan Adat Istiadat Negara (JAIN) on the field for the inspection and preview outing at the site.
The rehearsal was to acquaint themselves with available facilities, capabilities and evaluate the state of preparedness as the military personnel fine-tunes preparations towards multi-dimensional joint military displays to be staged this Saturday, 31st May.
The grand parade is scheduled to start at 8.30am, involving personnel from the Royal Brunei Land Force, Royal Brunei Air Force and Royal Brunei Navy, Training Institute RBAF, Special Force Regiment and Women’s Company.
Media partners from the local agencies, both from the government and private, were also at the rehearsal to familiarize with the sequence of events on the 31st May, to ensure they get the best position for the coverage and identify with the “do’s and don’t’s”.
The celebration is for the public and their family to enjoy while at the fun-fair, viewing military static displays, especially the latest asset of the Royal Brunei Air Force which is the new Sikorsky S-70i helicopter where eight of them will be specially featured that day. The public can also find out more about the career opportunities available in the RBAF. They can also try the aptitude tests, a test that challenges their ability if they suit to become a pilot. Meanwhile the arenas will showcase RBAF’s capabilities among them is the aerobatic performances by the Pilatus PC-7 Mark II trainer aircraft and demonstrations by physical training instructors.
The youth are expected to be enthusiastic in considering a career in the armed forces when they browse through the exhibitions. It is also an opportunity for the public to capture memorable photos with featured equipment, personnel and even try on various uniforms. There will also be food bazaars and interactive activities like paintball games, horse riding, Nerf gun matches and ATV rides.
Limited parking space will be provided at the Air Force Base. However public visitors are encouraged to park at the Rimba Secondary School where they will be pick-up shuttle buses operating regularly between 7.30am and 5pm. This is done to reduce traffic congestion. Designated walkways are provided for the public so to avoid littering at the Air Force Base for safety reasons.
Lined-up activities over the course of the month are the RBAF career and health road show, the ‘Titian Amal’ social and welfare projects, Khatam Al-Quran, cleaning campaign at cemeteries in the Sultanate, thanksgiving ceremony, celebrating babies born on 31st May, Excellence Awards for children of RBAF, handover of donations to special needs children as well as sports events such as futsal, golf tournament. A newly sporting event, different from others, called “Obstacle Course Challenge 2014” will replace the Triathlon.
Today’s preview was witnessed by the delegation from the Ministry of Defence included the Deputy Minister of Defence, Dato Paduka Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat, RBAF Commander Yang Dimuliakan Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Major General Dato Seri Pahlawan Mohd Tawih bin Abdullah and other Senior Defence Officials.
