School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 3, AY2023/24

I wanted to go to a military SEP to closely interact with the foreign military representatives that attended the SEP at USAFA and forge connections that I hope will aid me in future collaborations with them. The SEP also allowed me to observe and learn much about the US Air Force training doctrine and culture which was different from the way we do things in RSAF.

My upperstudy during my Vacation Attachment before matriculation introduced me to the existence of USAFA SEP. He told me that he had a great time there and was also able to complete airmanship courses like Basic Freefall and was able to earn a patch which could be worn on our uniforms. This intrigued me as it is a much different experience from most students’ exchange programs in civilian universities, and I would not get the opportunity to do airmanship courses anywhere else. His glowing recommendation along with the allure of being able to do airmanship courses influenced my decision to go for this SEP.

While the contents of the syllabus mostly remain the same as NTU, the deliverables were different, focusing more on the practical application of concepts rather than just theoretical testing. This meant that majority of the course grades come from graded assignments and group projects which require practical application of the knowledge to design or code things required by the course.

I was given leadership opportunities in classes, for example, being group leader for projects and so on. These experiences allowed me to explore different kind of leadership styles that would fit in a situation with peers to get everyone to do their respective tasks. It also taught me to be more open-minded and think critically about the issues at hand. I learnt to be much more capable at identifying creative solutions for the problems I faced, and it was mainly due to the experiences that the USAFA curriculum offered me with.

I was given the role of drill and ceremonies assistant. My role was to assist the head drills and ceremonies in watching and grading other squadrons’ drills and attire during noon meal formations. Since I was new to US standard of drills, I just tagged along to experience how they do the grading. I learnt how they confidently point out mistakes without any biasness towards their own peers and it was an interesting experience overall.

The contacts that I made were very valuable as they have given me future lines of communications with other allied militaries. This is particularly useful when SAF conducts missions or exercises with these countries as these prior interactions with members of the allied countries would have helped me to understand how to interact with other members of their military respectfully. This will go far in the building and strengthening of relationships between countries.

Exchange at a U.S. academy gave me many new experiences, including the ability to interact with members of the foreign militaries. By participating in the trainings there, I was made aware of their different kind of training doctrine and teaching culture which gives me a wider perspective of things that I can take back and use such experiences to improve the way we do things in SAF. Academically, the exchange taught me to study differently due to the different syllabus deliverables, and I think that this will be useful for my education within NTU.

I am satisfied with the exchange programme as it gave me many new experiences such as airmanship and the ability to interact with foreign militaries which I would not be able to get out of a regular OGEM exchange to a civilian university. I learnt how to be more independent in this trip and it gave me a whole new insight on how to approach doing new things as I did lots of new things on this trip.

It was definitely flying the Cirrus SR-22 plane during my airmanship course. While we still had instructors with us, they let us do most of the flying and being in control of the aircraft was exhilarating. I also tried new experiences like hiking up mountains and visiting national parks which are uniquely American. These and many more moments really shaped my overall experience there and it was a good one.

I did a lot of solo travelling, and it gave me time to reflect and reprioritize my life socially and academically. People have said that I am less uptight and more open to trying new experiences and generally just more fun.

Overseas military exchange programme broadens the mindset of the servicemen and women who attend it as it gives them a bigger picture about international relationships and allows them to develop as a well-rounded global citizen. It also exposes us to foreign geopolitical climate, and this widens our knowledge about how society in countries outside of Singapore work differently. It also gives us an opportunity and space to grow as a person, while having unique experiences that we otherwise will not be able to get in Singapore.

The SEP exposed me to foreign militaries and culture. Having seen how they do things, this gives me a better perspective when observing our own practices in the SAF and suggest improvements much more easily where necessary. As a whole, this SEP also strengthens multilateral relationships with participating countries through interpersonal relationship building between the attendees, which is crucial in the growingly uncertain geopolitical climate.

It broadened my horizons and taught me to look at things differently and this is an important trait for every SAF officer to have. The ability to look at a multitude of perspectives was also an important takeaway from this SEP in addition to the relationships built. On the personal development aspect, this SEP gives participants the time and space to grow, away from their lives back in Singapore.

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Year 3, AY2023/24

My main objective of going to a military Student Exchange Programme (SEP) was that I want to build a strong connection with other foreign international counterparts. Also to learn as much as I can, culture, education, history, heritage etc. And to become a leader of character as stated in USAFA’s framework. The key factors that most influenced my decision to apply for your military SEP were the military experiences, United States sceneries and the American culture.

During my exchange in USAFA, I was appointed as Communications NCOIC, this means that I have some cadets that I am responsible for, and my role is to guide them. My day-to-day responsibilities include social media updates, article designs etc. The lecturers/professors are open to consultations. I visited them frequently whenever I face any challenges or issues in class.  I have personally attended numerous of their military training and exposed myself to a whole new insights. I also undergone some of their leadership talks and briefs that aids me in my leadership and communication skills. Also, I learnt golfing, which is a social skills that I think will be helpful during cohesions.

Whenever you take new classes such the physical education classes, you will meet new people. Also, the squadron halls are really close together, which means that you can easily visit other squadrons and meet new people. At the same time, there are many international cadets that are doing their full 4 year program in USAFA which is pretty interesting and I managed to hang out with a few of them and get to know them.

The friendships that I made are extremely valuable.  I have followed them on social media and built a strong connection with them. They also offered to host me if I ever visit their country. I feel really welcomed by them. For SAF careers, since the world is so interconnected, I might cross path again in the future and work closely with them. I think that this exchange has opened me up to many other possibilities as well.

My most memorable experiences are the flying programme, specifically the Airmanship programs. We are attached to an experienced flying instructor where they will guide us on everything that is required to operate an aircraft. Secondly, is the travelling. We visited many places, including Las Vegas, Washington DC, Orlando, Miami and many more. I had an amazing time. Also, USAFA has developed my interest in Ice hockey. I really find it a very fascinating and exciting sport.

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Year 3, AY2023/24

The first time heard about this exchange was through my batchmate. When I heard about it, I knew this was the exchange that I wanted to go to. The reasons are that, firstly get to learn how our counterpart in the US works. Secondly, build a relationship with the people in the academy as one day, I may work with them in the future. Lastly, built up my leadership skills by interacting with the cadet and the officers in the academy.

My trip to the US Air Force Academy was a smooth one. The Department of Foreign International Programs helped us by arranging a sponsor family to pick us up from the airport and we stayed in their house, bringing us to and from the academy during our orientation week. During the orientation, we get to meet other international cadets from countries like Korea, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Columbia, Germany, France, Canada, and Australia.

When the semester started, we were assigned to a room with our roommate being one of the cadets. The roommate that I was assigned to is a minor in Chinese, and I am surprised by how good his Chinese is as compared to mine. During the semester, we have to do both the academic aspect and the military aspect. For the academic aspect, it is very different as compared to NTU, but similar to what we experienced during our primary and secondary education, where we had pre-reading, homework and projects to do every day and all of them were graded. As for the military aspect, there will be weekend training on selected weeks and noon-meal formation, where we will have to march to the dining hall for lunch. The academy offered some airmanship programs such as parachuting, soaring and powered flight. I was given the powered flight, which allowed me to fly the T-53 aircraft. This opportunity is one thing I am grateful for, as my vocation is Airforce engineer, this exchange allowed me to experience flying an aircraft.

Despite all the homework and military training, we get to travel around the country during holidays like Columbus Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. During Thanksgiving break, the academy arranged a trip for all the international cadets to Washington DC, where in the morning we visited landmarks like the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial. In the afternoon, we are free to explore the place.

Overall, my experience in the Airforce Academy was a fruitful and memorable one and I would recommend this exchange to all NTU SAF officers. I was able to achieve the objectives of wanting to go for this exchange, building relationships with the cadets from many countries, developing my leadership skills by learning from both the cadet and the officers in the academy and enjoying myself as a bonus during the holidays.

National Institute of Education, Year 3, AY2023/24

My main objective was to experience the life of a foreign military academy and to make friends from different military for the purpose of establishing defense relationship in the future.  Key factors were that I already had friends in the USAF and they were the main reasons for me to apply for this exchange to reconnect with them and strengthen the defense relationship that I had with them.

During my exchange, I was asked by my Air Officer Commanding to provide guidance and leadership sharing to cadets given that I was an experienced pilot and officer. The contacts I made previously have helped to serve a greater links with foreign militaries in overseas exercise and operation. The exchange at U.S. academy provided sufficient opportunities to interact and create new friendships and to learn on US military training and culture and to share with them information about NTU (education) and SAF (military).

Key takeaway was to be comfortable being outside of my comfort zone and interacting with different walks of life. The most memorable experiences during my exchange were made a lot of good friends while traveling to most parts of USA.

The SEP experiences has taught me to be a lot more appreciative of our Asian culture where we pride respect for our seniors and superiors to be of upmost importance. The key benefits and values of this exchange is making friends of foreign military forces.

It has exposed me to the different military cultures, so that in the future we know how to interact with foreign forces.  

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Year 3, AY 2022/23 

I first found out about this exchange program through the email sent out by SNA. It captured my attention as it was my first-time hearing about an overseas exchange program at a military institute. I was then interested to apply to it because when I was doing my research, I realized how big and well-renowned the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is. The unique aspect of this exchange program which enticed me to sign up was the ability to develop our leadership skills. Unlike other exchange programs, I will be surrounded by leaders and officers from the US Air Force, and this allows me to interact with them and learn from them on their take on leadership too. Moreover, in this exchange, we will be given opportunities to attend seminars and talks with foreign military personnel and this is something I was looking forward to. 

When I went over to the US, our US counterpart helped us to settle down well. We were each given a local host family who picked us up at the airport. The host family has been there for us when we needed any help and for any transportation needs too since there is no public transportation in Colorado springs hence everyone over here drives. In USAFA I was given an American roommate, he was very welcoming to me and even contacted me a month before I even came to the US to establish a connection to know more about each other. This move by USAFA to room every exchange personnel to an American roommate instead of sticking to our own country is a wise move as I feel we can connect more with the other Americans through our roommate too. In USAFA, Maj Reynolds from the Office Of International Relations was our point of contact for all exchange matters over there. He helped answer all our queries and course-matching requirements. A hurdle I faced in my course matching in USAFA is that I wanted to take a “Capstone Project” course which is offered at USAFA. However, I was told that it was only offered to final year students who are studying in USAFA as this “Capstone Project” is equivalent to an FYP for them. However, I am especially grateful to Col Egan (Department Head of EEE, USAFA), for seeking special approval for me to enrol in this project even though I am a foreign international who is not a final-year student.  

The curriculum in USAFA is very rigorous as weekly tutorials are graded and needed to be turned in, unlike NTU where our tutorials are not graded. However, not to worry as USAFA provides us with the necessary support structure to cope with it. Professors in USAFA go the extra mile to help students with one-on-one consultation sessions. A unique aspect I feel about classes here is that engineering concepts learned are related to airforce applications. While in a civilian University, we will not have this experience. This value adds to our learning experience, and we can bring new knowledge and skills back to the Republic Of Singapore Airforce (RSAF). 

During our time at USAFA, we were given opportunities to travel around. A highlight for me was that USAFA sponsored all foreign exchange personnel for a cultural trip to Washington DC. It was about 36 of us from Singapore, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Spain, Germany, and many others. It was a great opportunity to interact with other exchange officers from other countries.  Moreover, I was given an opportunity by the Physics Department at USAFA to go to a Physics Conference in Washington DC too. This is another separate trip apart from the cultural trip mentioned above. Where the flight tickets and hotel accommodation were fully sponsored by the department.  I am especially grateful to Dr. Gearba (Physics Professor, USAFA) for pushing me to go on this trip and seeking approval from higher management for me too.  In USAFA there will be plenty of time during the school breaks to travel around. Places I travelled to include New York, Miami, Arizona, North Carolina, San Francisco, and Puerto Rico. 

I also was given an opportunity to take flight simulator classes. It was a new experience for me since I am not a pilot. As an Air Force Engineer myself, it was my first time wearing a flight suit in the US. So that was something special too. 

All in all, I left USAFA with special bonds and friendships with many people which I feel will last for a lifetime. Many of them are other exchange personnel from various countries. I would like to quote one of my foreign friend’s statements to me on the last day at USAFA, he said: “When in the future you come to visit my country, do not forget that my home is also your home”. I was indeed touched by the camaraderie between all of us. 

I want to express my gratitude to the RSAF and SNA for giving me the chance to experience life at USAFA, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Year 3, AY 2022/23

In the very beginning, I wanted to do a semester exchange to explore something different and new. I wanted to do something that would put me out of my comfort zone and learn new things. Initially, I was contemplating whether to sign up for this exchange or not. Being accepted to this program would mean going to a military college and abiding by the military norms once more. However, I told myself that this opportunity was something that does not come by often and I decided to just give it a shot to the selections. Being selected and attending this program was no doubt one of the best times of my life.

After being accepted to attend this exchange, my main objective was to learn about their military culture and bring back good practices and apply them in the SAF one day. I decided to give this application a shot as I believe that I would be able to experience something different. When I first arrived in Colorado Springs, I felt the strange change in oxygen levels. The oxygen levels are indeed different from Singapore. Furthermore, what intrigued me was the cultural differences they have. I felt that the people in USAFA were very driven. The cadets in USAFA were very driven by their mission and the warrior ethos. Given the privilege of a Firstie (senior year cadet) gave me the chance to experience how it was like being a USAFA cadet. I also took up two military strategic studies courses as my BDEs. I was able to get a deeper insight into the military system of the United States and how their military operates. It means a lot to be able to learn leadership from a different approach.

Overall, I would say that the support system that NTU and USAFA provided was good. It was not easy doing the process of the course matching, but I am glad that I had the team from NTU-SAF and USAFA to made it work. I believe the skills I acquired are to be open minded in learning and adapting fast in times of the climate and learning environment. From this exchange, I learnt that being open minded unlocks one potential in many great things. One will be able to acquire so much more in terms of friendship and opportunities. For instance, when I was offered to go on a trip to USNA for an engineering conference, I kept an open mind and learnt so much more from the midshipmen and made many amazing people from the conference. The exchanged enabled me to make many valuable friendships and connections not just from the US, but from worldwide as well. The exchange included international friendship gatherings. One of the bigger highlights was the DC Washington trip. It was a 5-days and 4 nights trip organized by USAFA where its aim was to show the international officers famous landmarks and learn about America’s history. From the trip, we were able to bond and got to know each other on a deeper level and made valuable friendships. To me, these friendships made are of high importance. Should we get posted to their country for detachments, it is always better to have friends compared to strangers.

I would recommend this exchange to all NTU SAF officers as it is an eye-opening experience. One will be able to make new friends aboard and it is an experience that doesn’t come by often. USAFA taught me to be open minded to new ideas, because that is only where I will get myself exposed to new things. By forging relations with our USAF partners, it is possible that we will see them in the air in the future and work together in missions should we get deployed. This enables individuals from the SAF and USAF to foster better working relationships. I believe some of the key factors stopping individuals from taking up this program is the reluctance of being in a military school once more, having the status of a cadet. I personally believe that we learn the most by being on the ground, working closely with the cadets. To overcome this reluctance, we should keep an open mind and be open to learning new things because that is where you will discover new and great opportunities. During the brief, I recalled COL(Ret) Puah mentioned “It is up to you to write your life story, one day you will share with your juniors about your life in the SAF.” That sentence resonated the most with me and motivated me to give USAFA SEP a shot.

School of Social Sciences, Year 3, AY 2022/23 

My exchange experience at the United States Air Force Academy was a very fruitful and enjoyable one.  The exchange met my objectives of not just experiencing college life overseas but also interacting with Air Force personnel from all over the world.  

I was able to learn about other countries’ cultures and practices, and also share information on Singapore.  I made good friends during the semester and I’m sure those friendships will last for a long time given our common experiences and memories created.

 We were very lucky that our POCs in NTU and USAFA were very responsive to our requests for academic courses because that was not the case for a lot of my friends who went on SEP to other overseas universities.  In addition to academic courses, the SEP with USAFA also allowed us to take part in extracurricular activities such as flying in a glider and horse riding.  

 Most aspects of our exchange were taken care of by USAFA, including meals and accommodation on-campus and assignment of a sponsor family who took care of us when we were off-campus.  USAFA also provided us with additional opportunities to travel and explore the United States, which we definitely made full use of!

 I would recommend the US military academies SEP to other officers because of my own positive experience from the programme.  As a note, potential applicants should not be too worried about the military aspect of the exchange programme.

School of Social Sciences, Year 2, AY2019/20

My main objective for going for a military SEP was to have the experience of studying in a military academy and to learn more about the USAF. I learnt about the exchange from the e-mail sent by SNA and proceeded to find out more from the exchange students who had gone to USAFA before me. All of them were full of praise for the exchange programme and said that it was an experience they would not forget anytime soon. They also addressed my concerns about it being highly regimental as I had the impression that it would be another four months of OCS. As I’ve learnt, as exchange students, we were given Firstie (fourth-year) privileges, which added to the positive experience, as we were given more passes to leave base and were not subject to running along the footpaths.

Before I arrived, I heard about stories of the previous exchange students who had issues with their course matching. However, I did not have this same experience, as I was able to communicate with the USAFA co-ordinator and sort out any issues expeditiously. Although I was not able to get all the courses I had intended to take, I was able to take other courses that still fulfilled the same requirement. It was disappointing to not be able to get to do my free fall jump airmanship course, however, I managed to take the course Basic Soaring, which allowed me to fly in a glider, which is an experience that we would never get in Singapore. The coordinators in USAFA, Dr Rivas and Captain Hope were prompt in attending to our queries about various courses and excusals and helped us with any course matching issues that we came across.

On my experience in the academy: It was daunting at first, knowing that I was the only Singaporean on exchange at USAFA, but on hindsight, this was a blessing in disguise as it allowed me to step out of my comfort zone instead of cliquing with people from my home country. This also encouraged me to initiate more conversations with my fellow exchange students. Although I was not given a specific job in squadron, I felt like it was my responsibility to provide information to the other cadets whenever they asked about Singapore. It definitely increased my appreciation for my country. Speaking to the other cadets also allowed me to learn more about the various air forces, as well as their military academies. I was also able to see how military training is conducted in the US and abroad, and how it differed from training in Singapore. One thing that struck me was that these cadets could be deployed to war zones in the future after commissioning, and that was a stark contrast to what we have in Singapore.

We were assigned roommates from the US during our stay in USAFA. I thought that this was a suitable arrangement since my roommate allowed me to feel less lost in my first few days at the academy and helped me to ease into the culture in the academy much more easily. I was also especially thankful to my neighbours, who were friendly and made my experience at the academy that much more interesting and fulfilling. Academic-wise, USAFA follows a 2-day schedule as compared to a weekly schedule. Hence, I would have the same class thrice a week, in one- hour blocks as compared to a single three hour block like what we have at home. I thought that this was an interesting concept, as I was able to familiarise myself more with the course content over the course of the week. Also, lessons were conducted seminar style rather than lecture style, and I found myself being more comfortable in speaking up in class to offer my input on certain topics or to answer questions posed by the teachers. The learning environment also helped since most of the cadets were mostly willing to actively participate, which is different, compared to lectures in Singapore.

There were many memorable experiences I had in the US. One of them would be spending thanksgiving with a cadet’s family in Florida. We rarely celebrate thanksgiving in Singapore, but it was celebrated on the scale of Chinese New Year in the US. It felt like home away from home and definitely made me feel less alone in a foreign country with their family treating me as one of their own. That being said, my biggest takeaway from this exchange would be the relationships I’ve forged with the cadets from the US, as well as from the other exchange countries. It was heartening to hear them planning their future trips to Singapore. During our trip to DC, one of the senior officers told us about how he met his French exchange student roommate many years later during a military exercise. Hence, this shows the importance of the friendships formed during this exchange, despite the distance and the fact that we might not be in constant contact.

I felt that this exchange was a real eye-opener, as it allowed me to see how the US trains their future officers, and how the cadets juggle both being a student as well as an airman on a day to day basis. Also, it gave me an insight as to how different their lifestyles are, since they are often away from home. It also allowed me to form bonds and make friend with people from different countries and nationalities.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the memories and experiences I have taken back from this exchange programme. I would compel other officers to re-consider before they brush away the idea of a military school SEP. The level of training in USAFA for exchange students is dependent on how much you are up for training with your squadrons, and there is a myriad of other after-school activities to partake in other than training sessions. For example, I joined the USAFA Taekwondo Club, and managed to get tested for my belts in the US. Compared to the other experiences at USAFA, the regimentation is only a small part of it. My advice for anyone who is intending to apply would be to take a risk in going for this SEP as the benefits that you are able to reap from the 5 months far exceed that of a normal semester exchange abroad. 

Nanyang Business School, Year 2, AY2017/18

 The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Student Exchange Programme (SEP) is definitely one of a kind. Nowhere else in Singapore can officers in university go for a military exchange. This is the main reason I looked at USAFA for my exchange. It was unique, novel, and would provide me with learning experiences I would not be able to get anywhere else. The biggest thing I was looking forward to was looking at the different leadership styles of the officers and cadets there and especially those in close proximity to us like our squadron commanders. These were the reasons that made me want to go, but when I reached there, there were so many more things to look forward to. I talked about this exchange largely to other air force people in my batch, not in Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and they too saw the value in this exchange which spurred me even more to go for it.

In general, there is not much to adjust to other than the weather and the cultural norms. The air in the academy was really thin as Colorado is at a high altitude. Thus, even climbing a flight of stairs was a daunting task. Remember, just because you pant from climbing one flight of stairs, it does not mean you are unfit, do not think that. Even cadets there will pant after about 3 flights. Other than that, the weather was pretty chilly when it came to the end of the semester and layering up really helped a lot. Culturally, there was quite a bit to adjust to. Americans in general are incredibly outspoken and especially in the academy, everyone talks to everyone. I used to see myself as a very outspoken and talkative, friendly student in NTU but this definition of myself was definitely put to the test in USAFA. Academics wise, the big thing is time management as classes are every 2 days. The content is relatively easier to cope with but time management is the big thing to learn.

USAFA was great in providing assistance as and when we needed it when we were there so no issues with that. The SAF-NTU Academy (SNA) and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) provided much assistance when it came to meeting other students who went on exchange before, loaning of uniforms, settling flying dates, and coordinating with our Point of Contacts (POC) in Colorado itself. The meeting with our sponsors was seamless and the transition from living with our sponsors to moving to the academy was seamless as well.

There was a lot to learn from USAFA. The ways seniors treat the people under them, as well as the ways colleagues treat each other are the main things I would want to bring back to RSAF. I learned that it is really about the tiny things that are done that add up to a big difference in overall ambiance. Every day, as a greeting, everyone asks each other how they are feeling and this is not just something done at face value. At birthdays, commanders give a hand-written birthday card to their subordinates. Every week, there is an update on good things done by the people under them that are either achievements or extra effort out of their job scope. We know that all these little things add up but maybe we did not know how many little things or what little things to do. Thus, these “little things" are my big key takeaway.

I am definitely happy to say that I’ve made many close friends in USAFA and I do believe that I will remain in contact with them. Having these friends would definitely benefit my career in the RSAF on a very practical level as when both of us start our jobs proper, we would be able to share good things that each of the forces are doing that may be able to be implemented in the other or even share problems with them to see how they would think through it. Further, going through some training with them really opened my eyes to seeing why they do things a certain way and how they are in the work environment. Overall I am happy to say that I am definitely satisfied with the military and cultural part of the exchange.

My most memorable experiences at USAFA would be celebrating my 21^st birthday there with the new friends that I made. The people there are incredibly friendly and that really made my birthday special. That night was actually the opening night of a play I was in and the cast celebrated with me backstage.

The most interesting part happened after coming back from exchange. The biggest thing I knew I was going to miss about USAFA was how friendly the people were. However, when I came back, I saw Singaporeans as more friendly than I ever saw before. I do not know if it is a change in how I see people or if there was really a change over the past 6 months.

An important part of this exchange that we do not see very explicitly is that we get to make friends with military members from other militaries who are there on exchange as well. Right now, I am still in contact with friends from Brazil, Colombia, Canada, France, Japan and Malaysia. This is definitely going to be useful especially when we have exercises with these countries.

I would recommend the SEP for other officers provided they can get courses they want. At the end of the day this is still a university exchange that we need to use to clear courses. It is a great opportunity and would give you experiences like flying a Cessna or a glider or even getting to do parachuting.

School of Social Sciences, Year 3, AY2017/18

My main objective of going to a military Student Exchange Programme (SEP) was to hone my leadership skills and be exposed to new people and culture while I was doing my academics.

People that most influenced my decision to apply for your military SEP were my family members were very supportive of me going over, and the key factors were having a great opportunity to represent Singapore and the SAF, develop myself into a better leader, make friends and learn about other cultures.

There is no issue faced during my stay in terms of academic, cultural integration and general living conditions. Everything was good and perhaps because I am a very adaptable person.

The support provided by SAF-NTU Academy (SNA) was extremely good. Choon Kiat was able to help us with all our queries and even checked with us regularly to see if everything was going well. The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) provided very good support to me too. Whenever I needed help, I could always go to the International Office to look for help with regards to administrative matters. In terms of academic and consultation, my instructors were really helpful and understanding about my situation as an exchange student. Some of them even offered to give me extra time on my tests as they were afraid that I needed more time due to language barriers. Of course, I kindly rejected them and also informed them that English is Singapore’s first language.

The support provided by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was good. The other thing that was good was the support of Human Resource Shared Services Centre (HRSSC) and MINDEF Travel Desk (MTD) in terms of our flight tickets. As each of us had different return plans, HRSSC and MTD was patient and assisted us in getting the best quotations for each of our situations.

I learnt the importance of critical thinking skill from the way the instructors conduct USAFA classes. As the class size is equivalent to our tutorial classes in NTU, the instructors always ask questions and seek participation from the class. By asking many “whys”, it forces me to think deeper into the content that is being taught. In my MSS200 class, I learned two techniques known as the 5-why analysis and Operational Design. The 5-why analysis helps you to identify the root cause of a problem by asking several “whys” after each possible reason that you have come up with. Similarly for the Operational Design, it forces me to think and analyse the problems beyond what is seen on the surface.

I can apply this skill in the RSAF by trying to solve problems at their root causes instead of short-term solutions that may only hide the problem for a while. It is important to think through a problem and develop a solution that removes the problem without causing implications in the future.

There are many sources from which I learned about leadership. One of them is my leadership class. I learned about leadership styles (Transformational and Transactional), motivation, empathy and several other factors that help to shape a leader. All these knowledge will allow me to be aware of my own leadership behavior and work on them. It can also allow me to look out for my peers and juniors and help them to grow into better leaders as well.

Another source that I have learned about leadership from was my instructors. As instructors in USAFA are usually active or retired military personnel, most of them have been leaders in their own career and life. The way they behave, think and treat the cadets/students are a form of leadership on its own. 

In terms of self-confidence and sense of empowerment, these skills were greatly reinforced in my parachuting course. From the moment I jump out of the plane, I am on my own and I have to rely on my own skills and abilities to stay alive. This is true empowerment. During my first jump, I was hesitant of jumping out. But the course has prepared me so well and gave me so much confidence that I was reminded of it during this moment of hesitation and it helped me to complete my first and subsequent jumps.

The contacts I have made were very valuable. During this exchange, I have forged friendships with military servicemen and women from the United States (Air Force, Army, Navy, and Coast Guard), Spain, Colombia, Japan, Brazil, Chile, Germany, France and Canada. All three services of the SAF have working relationships with several of these countries. Therefore, I am sure that these friendships will help in my career regardless of my position in the RSAF, MINDEF, JOINT or even Foreign Relations.

Apart from my career in the SAF, these friendships will also be valuable in my own personal life. My exchange at USAFA has provided me many opportunities to interact and create new friendships and to learn on US military training and culture. I had the chance to participate in their military training (such as training of freshmen and parachuting).

Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my exchange programme. My key takeaways are learning to be a better leader and the friendships I have forged with the people I have met. My most memorable experience would be jumping out of a plane at 4500 feet.

My SEP has changed me and the way I look at life. In the past, I used to be a very conservative and narrow-minded person. I tend to seek comfort in the things that I am familiar with instead of trying new things. This SEP has helped me to open up my comfort zone and try new things, with risk management. Being more open to experience was one of my personal goals to become a better leader. This goal was set in my leadership class after doing a personality test and writing a leadership paper that helped to set goals.

Key benefits and values of overseas military exchange are experience new cultures, sharing of knowledge and experience with foreign militaries, as well as forging friendships. It brings Singapore and the SAF onto the global platform and allows people to know who we are, what we do, and what we are capable of.

I would definitely recommend SEP to other SAF officers as it provides a great learning opportunity both in terms of academics as well as military.

I first encountered this exchange programme when I was doing my Undergraduate Professional Military and Education and Training (UGPMET) course where a student who went on an exchange programme to the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) came to our lecture room to give us a briefing on his experience there. Through the sharing session, I was captivated by the amazing experience that a military academy could provide that an overseas civilian university/college could not offer. Being able to do something out of pure academic lessons, such as freefalling/parachuting, was one of the main reasons I put my sign up for the programme. Additionally, knowing for a fact that the RSAF is a close partner with the United States Air Force (USAF), I also wanted to take the opportunity to understand how the USAF train their officers through a military academy like USAFA.

During my exchange in USAFA, I was not given any role nor responsibility in the academy or the squadron. I was, however, required to step up as a quasi-diplomat and an ambassador whenever cadets from USAFA, as well as international cadets from 9 other nations, asked me about Singapore or the RSAF. This experience had allowed me to improve my diplomatic speaking skills with other nations, and me being a history major, was more than happy to share with others about the history of our nation. I also had the opportunity to learn more about the other foreign air forces through my interactions with them. Having such experience interacting with cadets from USAFA and other international air forces, I believe I had learned more about the military culture of the USAF as well as was able to share information about NTU and RSAF to the cadets there.

Some of the key takeaways that I got from the exchange programme was the wonderful friendships that I had forged, with both USAFA cadets and international cadets, during my semester exchange there, as well as some of the military activities I participated with the other cadets such as the German Proficiency Badge (GPB) and the Freefall/Parachuting programme. Aside from the friends that I made overseas, I would definitely say I became closer to my two colleagues and friends from RSAF, Timothy, and Jayshree, where we supported one another throughout the whole semester. This overseas exchange definitely had an impact on my life as this was the first time I was away from home for an extended period of time. There were times when things might be difficult while living overseas, but having the support of my friends in USAFA, as well as the encouragement I had back home pushed me to have this amazing experience in USAFA. This overseas exchange programme had made me a more mature and independent individual, and I believe that anyone else who would partake on this journey after me would experience such transformation as well.

I highly recommend this overseas exchange programme to USAFA to any RSAF officers studying in NTU. Being able to be part of this amazing journey would definitely aid me in my career in the RSAF where we would have to work with our foreign partners, and also gives us an opportunity to put RSAF on the map with the other air forces.

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 3, AY2016/17

 I still recall seeing the email on USAFA military exchange program while I was a freshman in NTU and thinking to myself that this looks like a unique opportunity I should not miss.  Fast forward two years and I found myself standing next to the iconic USAFA Cadet Chapel, staring down at the Terrazzo and its accompanying buildings where I would be spending the next 5 months studying in: “I’ve made it.”

The transition to living in the US was made easy with the help of my sponsor family and my roommate.  As an Exchange Cadet, I was given Cadet First Class (C1C) status, which granted me the most cadet privileges and minimal amount of regimentation requirements.  Though there was a requirement to attend some of the weekend training events (Silver weekends), which provided great insights into the military training element of education at USAFA, there remained sufficient free time for travelling around the US.  

The hospitality shown by the locals while I was there also made me feel very welcomed and left a deep impression in me.  For example, just one week before Spring Break, I was casually discussing with a classmate about my plans to travel to the Grand Canyon.  As it so happens that his family stays in the nearby city of Flagstaff, he offered that his family take me in for two nights when I am in the area.  I also had the chance to experience an “American” Easter celebration over at a sponsor family’s place, and to experience the hype of Super Bowl at another sponsor’s home. I greatly appreciated the generosity and warmth provided by the local families, and these visits formed some of the best memories I had of my time in the US.

One of the biggest challenge I faced while in USAFA was getting used to its academic rigour. Different from NTU, the bulk of our grades in USAFA were based on Continual Assessments. This means significantly more consistent effort was required to complete the numerous assignments given throughout the semester. The Instructors however were understanding and very patient, providing consultations and guidance should I require it.  I thoroughly enjoyed my classes in USAFA, and I really admired the Instructors’ genuine care for their Cadets’ wellbeing and growth, be it in academic or personal areas.  While a steep learning curve was required in the initial weeks, this experience with powerful programs such as MATLAB enabled us, as an engineering class, to delve deeper into complicated example problems, allowing us to practice making use of modern technology in solving realistic engineering problems.

The most memorable part of the exchange has got to be the opportunity to attend the Airmanship 490 – Basic Parachuting course.  Crazy as it may seem, we found ourselves in the skies doing our first free fall after just little more than two weeks of ground training, and it is already solo on our first jump! Through the course, I learned to have better personal mastery; putting into practice how I should, as a soldier and in the future as a leader, maintain high levels of confidence and control even when placed in situations where I am faced with immense amounts of pressure and fear.  Getting to jump 5 times out of a perfectly good airplane from 4,000 feet altitude, experiencing 10 seconds’ worth of free fall each time, it was truly an experience of a lifetime.

As I did my exchange in the Spring semester, I got the chance to witness and participate in Recognition, an intense three-day training event that serves as the final rite of passage before the Freshmen are officially “recognised” as part of the USAFA Cadet community.  I was honestly rather taken aback by the harshness during the first day of training.  However, the team spirit shown by everyone, and the immense encouragement given by the Upper-Class Cadets on the subsequent two days truly touched me as I witnessed how they, after setting the Freshmen up for their ultimate physical and mental challenge, helped to pick and build them back up, going through everything with them step by step along the way.  I shared the joy and sense of accomplishment amongst the Freshmen as they proudly donned their hard-earned Prop and Wings on their uniform and flight caps. This gave me great insight into how some of the USAFA’s long running traditions serve a practical purpose in inculcating certain values into their leaders of the future.

USAFA provides some of the most unique experiences and opportunities to its Cadets, and it had been a great honour to wear the Singapore flag on my left arm while attending my overseas exchange program.  Even if I were to choose again, I would not decide otherwise.

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 3, AY2015/16

 Looking back at my decision to choose United State Air Force Academy (USAFA) for my exchange program; it wasn't an easy and straight forward one. Although I understand the benefits it offers, there were still a lot of uncertainties and life alone in a foreign military academy is hard to imagine. Therefore, I did a fair load of researching to convince myself the decision. Thankfully, the information available was very supportive of my decision. The offer was simply too good to pass up and with the support from my family and friends, I decided to take it and since then, I've never looked back (until just now).

 Before I flew off to United States (US), I've already heard many good things about the place from the predecessors who went before me. However, being there personally was an entirely different experience; one that supersedes my expectations. Arriving in the US on the very first day, Alex and I were warmly greeted by our very enthusiastic host family; Elliot and Linda. They were a lovely couple and went out of the way to ensure we are always comfortable. They treated us like family and that was a valuable thing to have overseas.

 Other than the wonderful host family, I was also fortunate to have a fabulous roommate, Brett Griffith; he helped me adapt to life in USAFA and we became great friends very quickly. It was a pleasant surprise to know that he will be going to Singapore for exchange the following semester, where our roles are swap, allowing me to return the favour. Unlike what I thought initially, I was never alone in USAFA; I had forged strong friendship overseas, not just with cadets from the US, but other foreign military cadets who were on exchange program including our very own Singapore cadets.

 Life in the academy was different in many aspects from other universities. Other than the additional focus on military and athletics, academics took a very different approach too. Although it can be tough at times, as the courses were often homework and project intensive, many of the classes took on experiential and hands-on approaches which turn out to be an enjoyable learning experience. Additionally, the exciting airmanship program was a holistic and satisfying one.

 Although soaring in the air was truly unforgettable, it wasn't the most memorable highlight of my exchange. Ironically, that came from crawling on the ground during a traditional USAFA event called "Recognition". "Recognition" is an annual event where freshmen year cadets go through a series of physical and mentally inclined activities to earn their rights to be part of the USAFA community. I initially joined as freshmen just to challenge myself, but what I gained from it was invaluable. I've learned the persevering mentality from the freshmen, and from the upperclassmen, I've learned how to inspire and motivate. Moreover, going through the torturous activities together, I grew closer to the entire squadron, making many good friends along the way whom I still keep in contact actively.

 Exchange program is not only just about academics and the US is more than just USAFA. During the exchange, I had many opportunities to travel around and it was interesting to see the difference in culture from one area to another. It was fun and enjoyable to travel with new friends I made and at the same time picking up several outdoor skills. I also had a time of my life when I tried snowboarding; I winter sport which I absolutely adore but unfortunately can't do it at all in Singapore.

 Thankfully, USAFA also strongly encourages and supports our traveling, thus they were very flexible with the curriculum in this aspect. In fact, they even provided a sponsored trip to Seattle which includes a visit to McCord Air Base. The visit was very interactive as we get to talk to USAF personnel including the base commander, learning about their role and the base operations as a whole. I believe such knowledge will come in handy in the future when I get tasked with collaboration work. Traveling around the US was a truly cultural immersive experience; it broadened my perspective and allows me to think beyond my traditional mindset.

 My experience from this exchange is an unforgettable one and at the end of it, I felt that I have emerged as a better person, be it with new skill sets or a stronger mentality to overcome challenges. I honestly enjoy every moment spent on this exchange program and have no regret of my decision. I would like to express my gratitude to RSAF and SAF-NTU for making this amazing experience in the USAFA exchange program possible.

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 3, AY2015/16

Doing an exchange during your university education is significant in broadening your horizons and value-adding to your overall life experience. This is the first time I could venture beyond Singapore to live on my own for half a year and I wanted my exchange to be special. Thus, when I heard that there was this semester exchange to the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) that only Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) personnel studying in Nanyang Technological University can apply, I was certain this was a rare opportunity for me to gain insights on diverse military training and operations. Indeed, this was one of the best decisions I have made. Thereafter, I embarked to USAFA with a good friend, Gibson, who I am thankful for bringing a sense of familiarity and home in that period.

 I remembered the first time I step foot in USAFA, I was greeted by the foreignness of the freezing winter gusts and snow. The only familiar sight was cadets running in an orderly manner and senior cadets hollering at freshmen which brought memories of my Officer Cadet School (OCS) days. Fortunately for Gibson and I, exchange cadets were given senior status where such privilege was alike to an officer-on-course thus, we are exempted from many regimentations (e.g. marching from point to point and allowed to leave camp after classes). This granted us more focus on the academic curriculums, military trainings in USAFA and us, relishing on the freedom to explore the town or even the campus itself.

 In contrary to some beliefs that military regimentations are rigid and confining, it is actually one of the key catalyst for me to forge bonds and break ice with the USAFA cadets. From marching to cookhouse for lunch, squadron morning rollcall, major events such as “Recognition” and SAMI (Saturday A.M. Inspection), which is like SAF’s bunk inspections, were humbling opportunities for me to know other squadron mates. The culture there is friendly and I made friends with the USAFA cadets and other fellow exchange cadets from different countries such as Taiwan and Kazakhstan in no time. We shared the different lifestyles, cultures of our countries and I was surprised most of them know Singapore’s history and military background well. Looking back, the interactions with them were the most precious and invaluable takeaway during the exchange as our friendship grew over weekends spent snowboarding in a world class resort; road trips to scenic attractions such as Grand Canyons and Antelope Canyons over the spring break and beer pong sessions in HAPS, a bar located within USAFA.

 Expectedly, the education system in USAFA was different as compared to NTU. Grading in NTU is highly examination based; while USAFA believes in continuous assessment, hence there are homework and assignment due almost every other week. Admittedly, USAFA curriculum can be challenging as most modules require me to learn programs (e.g. Matlab, Mathematical) from scratch. Not nit-picking as it gave me an edge over others when I returned to Singapore.  Additionally, my professors and squadron mates were readily available to provide guidance to answer any questions, supporting my gaining assimilation to the dissimilar education system. Fondest memory was the frequent nights of mugging for quizzes with my squadron mates and sharing piping hot cup noodles in the late frosty temperature. One thing for sure, I have never counted my blessings when I had hundreds of Laksa maggi packets at home and it was such a valuable asset that I only open a packet to eat when I needed a boost or when I miss home.

Anyway, the best highlights of my exchange were the airmanship programs (parachuting and soaring) that even for U.S. cadets look forward to. The parachuting program consist of 5 freefall solo jumps out of the aircraft where one will earn an airborne badge subsequently. The prior training is comprehensive in ensuring one is well prepared for the jump both physically and mentally. It spans over one month where one will be repeated drilled on the procedure to follow during the jump, contingency recovery steps for different scenarios, experiencing free-fall conditions in a wind tunnel and evaluated in two stages of assessment before being eligible for the solo jump. Flying in that helicopter was one of the coolest things I have done; I could still clearly remember looking down when they opened the helicopter door and me taking that huge leap of faith off the aircraft, praying that the training I received will keep me alive. It only took one jump to make me fall in love with it. When the parachute opens after the freefall, the scenic view of Rocky Mountains covered in beautiful white snow was breathtaking. As for the soaring program, it consists of 5 sorties where I was given full control over the glider during flight with a trained cadet instructor at the back seat. During the fifth sortie, the instructor will perform aerobatic stuns such as a 360-loop. As an Airforce Engineer, this is something I will not be able to experience in Singapore so this is an opportunity I treasured.

 Another popular program in USAFA is the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency as it is one of the few approved foreign awards and it is one of the most sought after to achieve. An individual will be evaluated on their military proficiency based on a wide range of tests from fitness tests to military training which I trained hard to qualify for it. All was good but there was one problem: I cannot swim.  There was a segment where you have to swim 100 meters in a full military uniform. However, I was fortunate as one of my new-found friend, Wesley, in the academy was a swimming coach to his school team and offered a helping hand to me. Thus, for weeks, he gave me swimming lessons after classes voluntarily and never asked for anything in return. Although the efforts, I attempted the swimming test 3 times with no success. On the last day before I left USAFA, I decided to give it a last try. Called Wesley and he rushed down right after his final paper in USAFA. I pushed and gave my best and I did it! I can never do it without him, so thankful to be blessed with good friends when I was there. So, every time I see my GAFPB badge, I am reminded of Wesley, the one who selflessly taught me how to swim and motivate me positively to reach an impossible goal. This badge, this friendship, is something I will always hold dear in my heart.

 Last but not the least, I would like to thank my host family, Elliot and Linda Cohen who treated me like family when I was there. They were the pillar of support, giving us a warm roof to stay during the weekends, letting us use their house like our own, bringing us out for bonding sessions. They even celebrated my engagement with my fiancé when I proposed in USAFA. I am eternally grateful to them for giving us such a loving family to live with when we were alone in a distant place.

 This opportunity of spending my semester in USAFA one of the best decision I ever made. I am incredibly grateful to RSAF, USAFA and SNA for this momentous experience. Not only have I gained new knowledge in my academic courses, the exposure of being a cadet in a foreign military academy and forging many precious friendships I have taken home with me over just one semester. I have learnt so much from everyone and am sincerely humbled by the love I have received.

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 2, AY2014/15

My main objective of going on a semester exchange to USAFA was to gain exposure to a different culture and to learn more about myself. I wanted to experience how well I could adapt to a foreign environment and form friendships with the USAFA cadets and foreign cadets from countries.

The key factor that influenced my decision to apply to USAFA for a semester exchange was the unique experiences that were available from this exchange. The airmanship programmes such as Basic Parachuting and Introduction to Soaring are programmes that are not available on any other exchange programme. Furthermore, there were classes such as Boxing, Combatives and many more interesting features that were not available on most civilian exchange programmes. Despite the negative reception by my peers about going to a military academy for a semester, I felt that an exchange to USAFA would be a unique experience for me that will potentially have a positive influence on my career, especially since it was my hope to have overseas deployments with the RSAF in future.

One of the most enjoyable things for me during my stay at USAFA was the academic programme. Instead of mass lectures with several hundred students, classes in USAFA are small and the teacher-student ratio is a healthy number. Classes are very interactive and participation is highly encouraged. Furthermore, the instructors are usually USAF officers who are passionate about passing down knowledge to future USAF officers.

As a foreign semester exchange cadet, I was not required to participate in most military training. In retrospect, I wish I had participated in more military training sessions because it would have given me more opportunities to bond with my squadron mates as inter-personal interaction is highly self-driven. Although I found it easy to make friends at USAFA, it was, nevertheless, a challenge to develop deep friendships because cadets at USAFA tend to be fully caught up with the rigors of cadet life, being highly committed to meeting their academic, military and physical performance requirements. Most of the time, all that is needed is pro-activeness on my part to strike up conversations and after that, further opportunities for interaction will naturally open up. One of the immediate barriers to interaction was that it is not common knowledge that Singaporeans speak English as their first language; but once known people tend to feel more comfortable striking up a conversation with me.

The highlight of my exchange was the Airmanship course on Basic Parachuting where I had the opportunity to jump out of an aircraft five times! The programme is the only one in the world where the participants’ first free-fall skydive is a solo jump. While the programme taught me the basic technical skills of skydiving and parachuting, more importantly for me, it taught me how to suppress my fears and function under extreme stress.

Overall, the support given to me throughout the exchange was exceptional. The Office of International Programs (DFIP) was extremely responsive to any assistance I needed and ensured that I received the necessary helps. My instructors were very helpful, always willing to help even during off-period.

I feel that the education system at USAFA promotes thinking towards military functions and this enabled me to understand how the knowledge is applicable to future jobs in the Air Force. In addition, being immersed in military culture, I appreciated the patriotism that cadets had for their country – I felt that they truly believed in what they are fighting for. It was very humbling when I realised that the cadets that I went to classes with might just be the USAF officers that risk their lives for their country at the frontlines of battle in years to come. I learnt how to effectively communicate with USAFA cadets, understand their culture and mindsets in the military. This experience will put me in good stead in my future interactions with the US military.

A key takeaway from my exchange is to always open up and be willing to make friends, try new things and explore new surroundings. I learnt a lot about myself, how I cope in and react to different situations that I never thought I would be in.

The friends I made at USAFA was key to my assimilation into life at USAFA and their friendships have remained very valuable to me. My host family played a key role in giving me the full experience of life in an American family which I thoroughly enjoyed and which I will value for a long time to come.

My experiences on this exchange have given me a new perspective of life in Singapore. I have learnt that no matter how big or small the obstacle is ahead of me, I have to take the time to appreciate my surroundings, the people around me and everything I already have, instead of being caught up in the immediate things that we face. We live on a small island where everything and everyone is relatively close to one another; I feel that we should not take this geographic proximity for granted and treasure the closeness of our families.

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 2, AY2014/15

I had always wanted to go for an exchange program that allowed me to see the world and be exposed to a totally different cultural environment. What I got from this semester exchange to USAFA far exceeded my expectations.

Prior to the whole exchange experience, I initially had very few thoughts about applying and going to USAFA for a semester exchange and like most people, I thought, “Why go to a military academy for semester exchange and experience Officer Cadet School (OCS) all over again when you have other options?” I went for the interview light-heartedly. Looking back, I am really glad that I made the decision of signing up for it. It had truly been an once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am certain that I would not have gotten so much out of it were I have chosen a regular civilian college. The amount of quality interactions that I had with the cadets, instructors and my sponsor family during my exchange was something that I think most other exchange students would not have gotten to experience.

During my stay at USAFA, one of the major privileges we received as exchange cadets was the status of being a senior cadet. Having a senior cadet rank, we were allowed to skip and miss many of the military regimentation required of freshmen cadets in USAFA. So, rather than feeling like I was experiencing OCS or even Basic Military Training all over again, it felt more like a new experience where military aspects were being integrated into academics. The academic curriculum at USAFA is very different from NTU. Academically, USAFA focuses and sets higher emphasis on continuous assessment rather than final exams, even though I personally felt that the academic workload at USAFA was definitely not less, and at times, probably even heavier than at NTU. The personal interactions that each instructor had with the cadets made learning so much more fun and interesting when compared to the teaching styles I was used to in NTU. In a class I attended on renewable energy, my instructor would use the first 10 to 20 minutes of each lesson to discuss articles about current renewable energy trends and technology, and to get opinions from the cadets. Learning at USAFA is much more interactive and the quality of learning is definitely not compromised.

One of the many traditions that USAFA has, is pairing cadets at the academy with sponsor families. My sponsor family (of six in number, going on to seven - the wife of my sponsor is currently having their fifth baby) provided me with tremendous support throughout my stay at USAFA. Rooming with a USAFA cadet helped me ease into the new cultural environment. My roommate became one of my very good friends. It was friendships such as his that were of most value to me during my exchange. One of my most valued opportunities was to be able to participate in USAFA’s highly-praised parachuting and soaring courses which were really the highlight of my whole exchange experience.

On the whole, I would gladly say that my USAFA exchange experience had been an awesome and fruitful one. Besides having travelled to numerous places in the United States, I also experienced horseback riding and outdoor archery on base; experiences that most people would had have to pay a lot of money for. Besides travelling and making invaluable friendships, I felt had matured a lot during the five months. I learnt to appreciate and be grateful for the family and friends that I have, and am especially thankful for the prosperity and security in Singapore. My interactions with the cadets and people at the academy made me realise how patriotic they are of their country, and I feel that Singaporeans should the same and be proud of who we are and how we have grown as a nation.

“Recognition”, being one of the many traditions at USAFA, is a three-day intense military training of the freshmen by the upper class men. As I witnessed the training conducted, it made me ponder about the purpose of defence and military regimentation, and the experience has helped put my training into better perspective. I had grown to be more adaptive to new environments and had proved to myself that I can live independently without having the comforts of my home.

The five months at USAFA had truly been amazing and it cannot be simply described using words. One has to personally experience it to understand what USAFA has to offer. Again, I would like to thank RSAF and SNA for the opportunity to experience cadet life in USAFA.

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 3, AY2013/14

I was very thrilled to learn that NTU had a military exchange program with the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) because I saw it as a golden opportunity for me to broaden my horizons as a military officer. There were requirements that needed to be met before I could go on this exchange, so it was an anxious 1-year wait for me when I was finally eligible to apply to the Exchange Programme in Year 2. I had been offered an exchange place to Sweden but I decided to forego the offer in preference for the opportunity to go to USAFA instead. It was a dream-come-true for me – a once-in-a-lifetime and unique exchange experience to attend a world-class Service Academy.

I was fearful of only one thing – it was whether or not I could perform well in school and enjoy the exchange experience at the same time. I considered that going for an exchange at a Military Academy in the middle of Colorado Springs may deprive me of some degree of freedom to travel that an exchange to Sweden could bring. I was also acutely aware that I would be required to wear my uniform for classes and that there would be stricter rules and regimentation to adhere to. However, I reasoned that these didn’t matter to me because I was searching for an exchange experience that is unlike any other, where I could be completely immersed in another culture and interact with peers from a foreign military Service.

After a fruitful Semester, I can confidently say that I need not have feared any of this at all, given the great academic support and wide variety of activities that I had access to. Moreover, the exchange experience was much enriched by the strong bonds forged with squadron mates, classmates, sponsor family as well as instructors.

It helped that there were only 6 Singaporeans at USAFA during the time that I was there and that we didn’t “cluster together”. This gave me much freedom to mingle with the American cadets and develop my own circle of friends. We had many great and wonderful moments together and shared about the ways of life in our respective countries. In comparison to Singapore, America is a very large country and I was very privileged to get a peek into the lives of the American people. My instructors shared with me their very many interesting life stories. One of my instructors who used to be an astronaut shared about his life in space for example the need to run a few hours a day to maintain the muscle of his body as well as the fun he had with his meals which were more like games with M&Ms. Each of them had their stories to tell and it helped me better appreciate the subtle variations in cultural practices between people from the different States. The cultural differences didn’t appear to me to have come from 50 States of one country, more like 50 different countries!

I learnt much and grew in my friendships through participating in activities with my American peers. We watched the National Basketball Association (NBA) Playoffs and Major League Baseball (MLB) games LIVE! This is the stuff of my dreams! The feeling of being totally engaged in a game with like-minded company was just exhilarating, to say the least.

When I said I was afraid of giving up opportunities to travel in Sweden, I could not have been more wrong, as I could never have dreamed that I would be able to hike up the Incline at Manitou Springs and Eagle’s Peak with my new-found friends to catch the sunrise; not to speak of skiing down snow-capped mountains of Colorado at a world-class ski resort! These times spent with my new friends made the experience all the more memorable and I must say, just too marvelous for words.

My other fear was about doing well at school work, which I must acknowledge, was a primary objective of this exchange. It took me a while to adapt to lessons in USAFA as the curriculum and class structure was very different from that in NTU. The USAFA curriculum was very project-based and there were assignments to be submitted every other week, unlike that at NTU, where there were only the mid-term and final exams. There was much emphasis on creativity and innovation in USAFA assignments compared to that from NTU which tended to emphasize more on subject content and knowledge. The USAFA curriculum provided interesting lab sessions and field trips to places like the Mining Museum and American Furniture Warehouse. USAFA’s curriculum is broad-based and includes classes that cannot be found in NTU, such as scuba diving and even airmanship courses like soaring and power flight.

The teaching facilities in USAFA are excellent. They have a well-equipped gym and many sports facilities large enough to accommodate several classes of cadets at the same time. There were also labs that allowed cadets to work on experiments to enhance our understanding. The library was well-stocked and provided many relevant books, as well as printing and binding services. Clearly, USAFA provides a good study environment for their cadets making it much easier for me to adapt to academic life at the academy. For example, the Department of Foreign International Program (DFIP) was extremely helpful when we had to make last minute changes to some of the subjects we were taking. As the courses in USAFA were generally heavily filled with projects and very different from the NTU lecturer/tutorial style, I was supported by cadets who always made sure everyone’s views were heard and helpful instructors who gave Extra Instruction (EI) and were easily contactable.

I am incredibly grateful to the RSAF, USAFA and NTU for this once in a lifetime opportunity as I not only learnt much from the courses I attended, and developed new ways of learning, particularly through experimentation and project work, but I believe I developed and matured personally through this process. I gathered many invaluable learning experiences and wonderful memories, but most of all, I am indebted to the many friendships extended to me from across the globe.

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Year 3, AY2013/14

The prospect of spending a semester on exchange at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) was highly appealing to me because I would not only get to experience the culture of another country but also have a glimpse into the life of the military cadet of a world military superpower, the United States.

I am sincerely thankful to the RSAF, SNA and NTU for giving me the opportunity for this life-changing experience. This exchange has helped me to discover things about myself that I never knew about. I would like to give an honest sharing of the exchange and my thoughts about my experience.

I was a Year 3 Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) student going on exchange to USAFA in the Spring Semester. As I was unfamiliar with the courses, I met with some hiccups with my course matching. I discovered that it would have been more beneficial for me to have gone in the Fall Term instead of the Spring Semester. There is a wider range of modules to choose from, however, the modules in the Spring Semester were continuations of modules conducted in the Fall Term and posed some problems for me as I was on the direct Year 2 Bachelor’s programme in NTU and I had already done most of the basic courses in my first academic year. My course matching issues were very quickly resolved, although not without some stress, through the cooperation between USAFA and NTU professors, who were very accommodating and empathetic to my needs.

NTU coordinators communicated with the relevant course advisors from the EEE department in USAFA to allow me to select and take courses that were taught in summer. I am especially grateful to Col Clark (Department Head of EEE, USAFA), Dr. Glen (Course Advisor, USAFA), and Dr. Musselmen (Head of Program and Plans, USAFA) for going out of their way to help me bridge this gap.

The exchange provided an environment which took me out of my comfort zone where I did not have my usual family support. During my first month at USAFA, I was not adapting well to my new life as I was feeling alone and the weather was cold. However, by talking about my feelings with my roommate and 2 of the Singapore cadets who were part of the 4 years study program at USAFA, I truly discovered the need for me to persevere and not let negative thoughts consume me.

As I stepped out of my comfort zone, I realized I was not as strong as I thought I was. I learnt to cope with loneliness by picking up the courage to speak to people around me, playing sports and participating in other activities with the military cadets in USAFA. Being older than the cadets there, I felt I had to be a good role model to the younger squadron members and my classmates. I learnt that I can be capable, friendly and mature, a person that USAFA cadets can look up to, if I chose to step up to the challenge.

Sylvester Stallone in Rocky Balboa said this about winning, “Life's not about how hard of a hit you can give... it's about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward.” This quote encapsulated my approach to the challenges I faced in a new environment. I learnt that there was a need for me to remain confident and calm in new and challenging environments and not be discouraged in the face of adversity but to fight on and stay positive in mind, spirit and body. Challenges will always greet us at various stages of our lives, we need to choose to stand up and fight, or lie down and be defeated. With this new mindset and a firm resolve to improve, I eventually overcame the cultural shock and from there really started to enjoy my time in USAFA in both academic and non-academic areas.

An exchange to USAFA is definitely something I would encourage everyone to apply for. The U.S. is so large and there are so many places one can travel to and to explore. Traveling within the U.S. helps oneself to see things from a whole new perspective. The nature parks, museums and places of attractions are not to be missed. The cadets in USAFA were very welcoming and accepting, and I was happy to be able to reciprocate the warmth and hospitality by helping cadets in academic-related matters whenever I was approached.

What I learnt at USAFA and the challenges I overcame have made me stronger and more mature. I believe this will also be true for others who would take up this opportunity. Thank you once again to the RSAF, SNA and NTU for giving me the opportunity to experience all that I had experienced through this exchange. I would have missed out on a golden opportunity, had I not gone on this exchange. I would like to thank all personnel involved in this exchange for their time and endless support in making my exchange a success.

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 3, AY2012/13

When I first read the email on the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Semester Exchange Programme, the first thought that came to my mind was that this exchange was not for me; USAFA is such a prestigious institution that I thought this opportunity should be given to someone better. Besides, I had already been offered a place for a Semester Exchange at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, USA. However, after much thought, I chose to forego RPI and apply for the Semester Exchange at USAFA instead. Shocking? Yes, and if I have to choose again, I will still choose USAFA over RPI.

Many of you may think that it's crazy to go to a military academy for an exchange programme where there is regimentation and a lack of freedom. In fact, many of my friends mocked at my decision to go to USAFA for my Exchange, saying that I was stupid and crazy, to the extent that even I doubted my decision. Did I make the right choice? Can I survive the training in a world-class military academy? Can I meet the expectations that the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) have of me? These were the fears I had before setting off on this journey. I managed to suppress these fears with the encouragement and support given to me by my family and SAF-NTU Academy (SNA). I wanted an experience that money cannot buy.

When I arrived at Colorado Springs, USA, I was greeted by a very friendly and lovely couple at the airport. They were to be my host family during my stay in the USA and I will never forget the care and concern that they had for me when I was there. We had so much to share with each other, and a new and unique friendship was formed. After staying a week with my host family, I left for USAFA where I learned tons of stuff. Staying with an American United States Air Force (USAF) roommate allowed me to experience the real American culture. According to some of my friends' exchange experiences in overseas civilian universities, they didn't have the chance to engage with the locals. Isn't one of the purposes of exchange programmes to adapt and immerse yourself in other people's culture? If one chooses to stick with their Singaporean group even when overseas, I guess that defeats the purpose of being on an exchange programme.

Unlike NTU, USAFA adopts a project-oriented and class participation focused system of education. For assessments, marks were mostly awarded based on assignments, labs and class participation while examinations and quizzes constituted only 20-30% of the grade. This approach does not make courses at USAFA any easier; there were times when I had to burn midnight oil to finish up the assignments, but that's part and parcel of studying. Apart from academics, USAFA also offers a wide range of physical classes like swimming, soccer, water survival, golf, boxing etc., as part of their curriculum. Each sport is conducted over 8 lessons and I took up classes in unarmed combative and boxing to learn the basics of self-defence. Since USAFA is a military institution with many traditions, it also caters time for their military activities, such as “recognition”, which is a 3-day programme where "doolies" (uninitiated cadets saddled with many restrictions) go through a weekend of harsh training in order to earn their rights to be a freshman.

Overall, I had a wonderful and awesome experience attending the USAFA exchange programme which has changed me for the better in some ways. I have become more confident and assertive, standing up for my rights where it is warranted and for what I believed in. Some of my friends remarked that my English had improved after my stint at USAFA; I was a "hokkien peng" who didn’t have a fluent command of English. I was exposed to different life skills such as living independently, engaging people from different backgrounds, being tactful in what I say and learning to present myself well to others. The only problem I had at USAFA was keeping in touch with my family in Singapore. As my parents didn't know how to use the computer to communicate, the only way to update them was to call them, and it soon became an item on my weekly to-do list while at USAFA.

I would like to thank the RSAF and SNA for giving me this opportunity to experience life at USAFA which I had enjoyed tremendously.

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Year 3, AY2012/13

When I received an email regarding the NTU-RSAF-USAFA Semester Exchange Programme, I was excited but doubtful at first as it was the first Semester Exchange Programme to a military institution. I was doubtful about applying mainly because I did not know what to expect from the exchange and there were no seniors from whom I could seek advice from.

Training to be an Airman and an Engineer in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), I always believed that it is essential to gain different perspectives and a varied exposure to engineering. The Exchange programme with United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) was perfect in providing what I always wanted – an American perspective of Aeronautical Engineering. The United States Air Force (USAF) is a leading military force in the world, and such an opportunity to study at an institution renowned for its aeronautical engineering excellence, particularly in the area of aircraft design and production, is hard to come by. I had thought that it was near impossible for an RSAF Engineer to train and study with USAFA cadets because the SAF Academic Scholarship (Military) that sends RSAF personnel for a 4-year programme at USAFA, was only applicable to combatants. This fact made the Semester Exchange Programme to USAFA more attractive to me.

The academic programme at USAFA was rigorous and provided a different learning experience from what we were used to in Singapore. The lecturers in USAFA were very passionate about teaching and we benefited much from their guidance. Some of the academic courses in USAFA included field trips to industries such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Coors Beer factory and the American Furniture Warehouse that provided valuable insights to industrial practices.

The Semester Exchange Programme at USAFA is not only about academic excellence. I also made many life-long friends and gained invaluable experience in the Academy. I was in an environment that required me to mix around and get to know people. This helped me forge friendships with USAFA cadets that made the exchange programme unique and fun. USAFA has some of the best sporting facilities in Colorado Springs and offers a large range of courses that inspired cadets to pick up and learn various sports. There were opportunities to learn sky diving as well as flying training too! I picked up skiing at one of the best ski sites in the world, learnt to play golf and caught National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB) matches live. There was sufficient time throughout the semester to travel out of the Academy to visit other States in America, so road trips to explore and experience the American culture were not compromised.

It had been an honour for me to represent the Republic of Singapore Air Force and Nanyang Technological University at the United States Air Force Academy. It had been an unforgettable experience that money cannot buy.