SINGAPORE – Captain Yap Hui Jun tips the scales at just 55kg, but had no qualms about heaving a man significantly heavier than her over her shoulders when the going got tough.

“I had no time to think about how tired I was,” the 27-year-old said, recalling one of the most challenging missions during her 65-day Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Ranger Course.

The army intelligence officer recently became the first woman to graduate from the course, regarded as the toughest small-unit leadership course in the SAF.

Trainees have to meet three prerequisites before being selected – a conditioning programme, a medical examination and a selection test. 

The Ranger Course was introduced in 1978, and Capt Yap was part of the 50th batch.

Recalling the mission, Capt Yap, who stands at 1.62m, said that she had to carry a “casualty” to an extraction point, more than 500m away.

“I had to carry someone who was 15kg heavier than I am, so I just did the fireman’s carry on the nearest casualty,” she said in an interview at Pasir Ris Camp on Tuesday.

The mission was tiring, but this is just what the Ranger Course is about, she added.

The course aims to hone small-unit war-fighting leadership qualities, and to develop physical and mental toughness in soldiers, training participants in a simulated combat environment.

The Ministry of Defence did not reveal the number of participants, or the number of graduates, for the latest Ranger Course.

Capt Yap revealed that she embarked on the same course in 2022, but had to drop out during the second of its three phases, where she did not do well in the planning and small-unit tactics portions of the missions.

During the first phase of the course, which is 20 days long, trainees undergo skills-based training, which includes weapons training, demolition, coastal swims and navigation.

Phase two, which is also 20 days long, sees trainees engage in field training exercises and back-to-back sea-based missions, which usually last eight to 10 hours.

The final phase lasts 25 days and requires trainees to endure longer and farther field training exercises, which includes executing air-based missions that sometimes involve helicopters. 

Capt Yap, a platoon commander in the Intelligence Officer Cadet Course, said her first attempt at the Ranger Course was filled with uncertainty as she had gone into it “blind”.

One can prepare for the course physically by doing fast marches or heading to the gym, she said, but getting into the right mental zone is far trickier.

“No one would be able to simulate these combat conditions if they are not in the course itself,” she said. 

These conditions include having to survive on combat rations, which amount to fewer than three meals a day, and sleeping three to four hours a day.

Despite this, armed with a positive mindset and the support of her family and friends, as well as the push from soldiers beside her, Capt Yap managed to overcome her mental barriers and make history in her second attempt at the Ranger Course.

Asked what it means to be Singapore’s first female Ranger, she said she feels honoured and humbled. “It is part of why I signed on; I take it as a challenge that allows for self-discovery along the way.

“But definitely, this is something to celebrate, and I hope that this will encourage more women to sign on and even attend the course.”

Capt Yap decided to join the army after finishing junior college, when she attended an SAF open house. Having always been passionate about training and development as a leader, she felt the army would be the best place to hone these skills and give her an opportunity to meet people.

“I like adventure, and I just want to test my limits and see how far I can go,” she said.

Now equipped with the experience of successfully navigating the Ranger Course, Capt Yap hopes she can impart invaluable lessons to her cadets. 

“Nothing can buy this experience. It is unique to me, and I still hold dearly to the values (of grit and tenacity),” Capt Yap said, referencing the Ranger creed.

With the Ranger tab now taking pride of place on her sleeve, Capt Yap is eagerly looking forward to tests ahead.

“There is much more that I have to prove and show to others, and to always uphold the standards of a Ranger. This is my new challenge,” she said.