RSAF marks close bonds, milestones at its US detachments

Love also blossoms on Peace Carvin II which celebrates 30 years of training in Arizona

- Andrew Wong

Loading missiles onto F-16 jets some 14,000km from home, Military Expert 2 (ME2) Yogaraj Kunaseelan did not think he would find love.

As fate would have it, the 31-year-old would meet fellow air force engineer Lai Huiyan, a colleague on the Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) Peace Carvin II (PCII) detachment at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

While their friends saw them growing closer on road trips to Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it was at a 2019 Chainsmokers concert in Phoenix that sparks flew as they bonded over their shared love for the electronic duo's music.

The pair kept in close contact after ME2 Lai returned to Singapore at the end of 2019, and they tied the knot in 2022.

The relationship between Singapore and US forces have similarly blossomed in the 30 years since PCII was formed.

Established in 1993, PCII is the RSAF's longest-running overseas detachment, where its aircrew is able to transcend the severe limitations of Singapore's tight airspace while taking part in F-16 fighter aircraft training with the United States Air Force (USAF).