Profile – SCDF WO2 (NS) Mohamad Fitri Bin Mohd Jamil, 35 NS appointment: Company Sergeant Major, 41(A) Rescue Battalion, 4th CD Division Senior technician with OilTanking Singapore Company Sergeant Major of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and Disaster Relief Exercise (DiREx) 2013 in Cha-am, Thailand Recipient of Home Team NSmen of the Year Award 2012
lifesaver
Always a Firefighter Serving the nation is Mohd Fitri’s passion was enlisted in 1997 as an NSF and was posted to the old Paya Lebar Camp as a personnel clerk. The next year I joined SCDF as a regular and was posted to Tuas Fire Station as a Hazmat Specialist, where I served until I left the SCDF in 2006. As the CSM of a Rescue Battalion, I managed more than 200 NSmen in my company. I’ve learnt that I need to trust my men and learn to see their strengths in order to understand and bond with them. I am able to apply the same management skills at work and with my family and friends. I am happy that my unit won the Best Rescue Battalion in 2009 and 2011.
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14 frontline / Sep–Oct 2013
The first incident I attended to, when I was still a regular in the SCDF, was a fatal case involving a foreign worker. A crane had toppled on a Bangladeshi worker, and I had to carry his body away from the incident site. His scalp was gone and there was blood everywhere. It is all part of the job for fellow firefighters out there. I had a close call during a fire incident at a Tuas warehouse. It was late at night and the paint containers inside exploded just after we entered the building. Thankfully we were not too near the explosion.
WO2 (NS) Mohd Fitri (front row, first from left) at DiREx 2013 in Cha-am, Thailand
The recent Disaster Relief Exercise (DiREx) held in Thailand was the first time two NSmen were involved as part of the Exercise Team which primarily comprised of SCDF regular officers. I was proud to be selected as one of them. It was an eye-opener to work with rescue forces from many countries. Sometimes we communicate by sign language as they may not understand English well. It was great to work as a team once again with regulars, many of whom are my former colleagues. I am glad that I am still able to contribute to the nation as an NSman.