GOING VIRTUAL

When COVID-19 struck, this was a problem for many SAF commanders as the routine training, operations and bonding activities posed a potential health risk to our soldiers. Would we have to choose between the two? But the answer was clear - it was not either-or but and. We had to do both.

As LTC Perh recounted, “Sacrificing either need was not an option. It's our duty to train the battalion to be operationally ready within the two years of full-time National Service, and the team firmly believed that cohesion was an absolutely necessary building block for all of the battalion's other achievements to be built upon.” Having settled that fundamental principle, his team huddled to work out ways to build cohesion without in-person interactions.

Using Zoom to conduct activities was one obvious solution. Knowing the popularity of mobile games among young people, someone suggested an e-sports competition. LTC Perh noted that, “We had to find ways to continue generating shared experiences and reinforcing shared identity, and video conferencing and social media became invaluable tools for the command chain to reach out to the soldiers and their families.”

LTC Perh and his team knew that virtual interactions could not have the same impact as interactions in person for forging bonds. Nevertheless, they tried their best to look for creative ways to get around the restrictions brought by the pandemic. They did not allow themselves to get stuck in a dichotomous mindset, in which goals seem mutually exclusive. Instead, they adopted a bridging mindset and focused on compatible and, even better, mutually reinforcing goals.