ROCKHAMPTON, Queensland, Australia: For Master Sergeant Chin Shi Lee, a typical day at work involves lugging around gear that weighs over two-thirds of her body weight.
This includes the main tool of her trade: a Sako TRG-22 bolt-action rifle capable of hitting a target from a kilometre away. The load also includes a ghillie suit, specialised camouflage clothing that allows her to melt into her surroundings as she stalks her quarry.
Chin, the Singapore Armed Forces’ first woman sniper, told reporters at Exercise Wallaby – the SAF’s largest overseas unilateral exercise – that she felt right at home amid the undulating bushland and open plains of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) in the Australian state of Queensland.
“The training has been amazing because we have a very large training environment and varying weather conditions compared with Singapore, which allows us to really challenge our skills,” said the 27-year-old.
She enlisted in the SAF in 2019 and was in the infantry before graduating from the SAF Basic Sniper Course in July 2026.
While this is Chin’s first time at Exercise Wallaby, she previously participated in the Asean Armies Rifle Meet from 2023 to 2025.
Among the challenges that the marksmen – and woman – face at SWBTA is fluctuating wind conditions and temperatures.
This requires them to develop wind-calling judgment, which is the ability to read wind speed and direction and make shot adjustments to compensate.
Chin, a senior trainer at the Infantry Vocational Training School, said her role at the annual overseas drill involves conducting exercises that emphasise navigation, marksmanship, reconnaissance and individual fieldcraft skills.
“A common misconception about snipers is that we focus only on shooting, but that is not the case,” she said. “We also carry out precision target acquisition and reconnaissance for our wider mission exercise.”
The most demanding part of being a sniper is not pulling the trigger, but the stalking phase, said Chin. This refers to trainees having to move stealthily through open or wooded terrain to reach an objective under time pressure, and is a crucial test of fieldcraft and concealment.
Snipers do so by customising their ghillie suits with local twigs and grass that match the surrounding landscape, and by moving deliberately without leaving any visible tracks.
At Exercise Wallaby, Chin and other SAF snipers honed their skills in a live-firing exercise involving targets that ranged from 300m to 1km away.
The master sergeant said marksmanship training is her favourite part of being a sniper as she can noticeably see her accuracy improve with each successful hit.
Apart from the TRG-22, the SAF’s snipers train with the M110 semi-automatic rifle, which has a higher rate of fire and is used for troop support; and the AX50 anti-materiel rifle, which is used to disable enemy equipment.
Clad in her ghillie suit and lying prone with her AX50 rifle, Chin was indistinguishable not only from the surrounding foliage, but also from her male comrades.
There is no difference in sniper training between men and women, and everyone is held to the same standards and expected to execute the same mission exercises, she said.
A career in the SAF was a natural choice for Chin, who enjoys the outdoors and physical activity.
Asked how the SAF could attract more women like her, Chin said young women who are interested should give it a shot.
“If you are interested, you should find out more about it and pursue your interests,” she said. “I believe that our organisation is very open to everyone.” - The Straits Times/ANN
