42nd Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment

The 42nd Battalion, Singapore Armoured Regiment is one of the 4 armoured infantry battalions of the Singapore Army.

History
The Battalion was raised on 1 October 1971 at Selarang Barracks with a transfer of one Armoured Infantry company from 41 SAR to form the Battalion's first company. In June 1972, 42 SAR took in another company from 41 SAR. 42 SAR was originally known as 42nd Singapore Armoured Battalion (42 SAB).

In 1973, the unit became operational. The unit was temporarily decommissioned in 1982 as part of the restructuring of SAF Armour Corp, but was raised again in 1990 at the newly built Sungei Gedong Camp.

42 SAR received her Regimental Colours from then President Benjamin Sheares on 6 Nov 1977 at Selarang Barracks. Her colours can be identified with the number 42 on the top left corner with green frills around her regimental colours representing her being the 3rd armour battalion within the armour formation.

The battalion was chosen to commission both the locally designed Bionix AFV platform, the Bionix 25 in 1999 and the Bionix 2 in 2006, the unit has also operated many of the SAF's armour platforms such as the AMX-10P 25 Dragar ICVs, AMX-10 PAC 90 FSVs, AMX-13 SM1 light tanks, 120mm modified M113A1 self-propelled mortars, M113A2 Ultra tracked APCs and the locally designed AFV, The Bionix and Bronco ATTC.

42 SAR has won the SAF Best Combat Unit Award in 1979 & 1982.

The unit has also won Best Armour Unit in 1979, 1982, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2009 & 2010

The official headdress for the battalion is the Black Beret and members of the unit wears the Armour Formation patch on the shoulder of their No.4 Uniform.

Enlisted Men, Specialists and Officers make up the majority of the manpower of the battalion while key appointment roles are filled with regular Officers and senior Specialists.

2006 saw the Battalion being the first armour unit to actively operate the Battlefield Management System in its armoured vehicles.

Current Role
The Battalion is currently based at Sungei Gedong Camp,

Its main role is an Armoured Infantry Battalion and currently uses the Bionix 2 AFV and the Bronco A.T.T.C for its trainings and operational duties.

The battalion has 5 companies in its organization and they are:
 * HQ Company - Manpower and Logistic Company
 * Jaguar Company - Armoured Infantry Combat Team
 * Kaffir Company - Armoured Infantry Combat Team
 * Lion Company - Armoured Infantry Combat Team
 * Serval Company - Combat Support Company (i.e. Mortar, Pioneer, SPIKE & Scouts)

There was a 6th company which was raised as an experimental company called Paladin Coy between 2004 - 2006 to test out the new Bronco platform. This company has since been disbanded.

The battalion is incorporated into the National Service system as with other combat units where the battalion conducts mono intakes where recruits undergo their basic military training with the battalion.

Training
Upon completion of Basic Military Training, the Enlisted men would undergo a training phase called Armoured Trade Course where the Men would be trained according to their roles in the battalion. This would vary from AFV driving and maintenance courses to learning basic infantry weapons in the SAF inventory. Upon completion of the course, all Men would receive and are entitled to wear the standard headdress of the Armoured Formation: Black Beret. Further course the men would undergo are infantry drill in the fields and finally move on to the armoured warfare phase which combines both the infantry and armoured drill together.

The Battalion regularly trains overseas to hone their gunnery and armoured warfare skills. Overseas usually takes place in India and Australia where both countries provides wide training areas for the battalion to use due to space constrain back home. At the end of the battalion cycle, the battalion undergoes an evaluation called A.T.E.C (Army Training Evaluation Centre)conducted by the Army to test the readiness and operational capabilities of the unit. For this evaluation, the battalion is equipped with MILES (Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System) which is than attached to every weapon and platform.

Structure
Each combat company has 4 platoons which 3 are Armoured Infantry platoons and a company HQ platoon.

Each of the Armoured Infantry platoon follows the same structure as the basic Infantry platoon of having 3 section of 6 men and a Specialists in command of each of the sections. The only difference from the Infantry is that there is a driver and Specialist AFV commander attached together with each section. When the Armoured Infantry is on dismounted role, each platoon carries with them 2 GPMG instead of 1 as the infantry platoons carry.

The total strength for each Armoured Infantry platoon are: 1 Platoon Commander, 7 Specialist ranging from the 1 Platoon Sergeant to the 3 Section and 3 AFV commanders, 23 enlisted men including the platoon medic and signaller.

Each platoon has 3 Bionix AFV attached to it.

The support company has 5 platoons. They are Mortar platoon, Pioneer platoon, SPIKE ATGM platoon, Scout reconnaissance platoon and a company HQ platoon.

The HQ company has 4 platoons. They are Medical platoon, Drivers platoon, Logistic platoon and Signal Platoon.