MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho – Despite being posted to the United States as air force engineers, Military Expert 3 Yew Boon Leng and his younger brother Yew Boon Siong did not have any opportunity in nine months to visit each other.

ME3 Yew, 35, had relocated to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho last December to join the Peace Carvin V detachment of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

The north-western state is about a 17-hour drive from Arizona state in the south-west, where ME3 Yew’s 32-year-old brother has been with RSAF’s Peace Carvin II detachment at Luke Air Force Base for almost two years.

Idaho is an hour ahead of Arizona, and the brothers had to make do with phone calls until they finally met in person on Sept 16.

They are part of Exercise Forging Sabre – a Singapore Armed Forces exercise being held in Idaho between Sept 11 and this Saturday.

Recounting their first meeting since he was posted to the US, ME3 Yew said it had been a long time since his five-year-old daughter saw her uncle.

They went to Boise, capital of Idaho state, for ramen, which his daughter wanted to eat.

“My daughter kept holding his hand – she forgot her father,” ME3 Yew said as his brother laughed.

Even though opportunities for the two siblings to meet are few and far between – and subject to their schedules – they try to maintain communication not only with each other, but also with their parents and sister back home.

Military Expert 2 Yew Boon Siong said: “At first, they were quite worried about us, but as and when (we can)… we send news back to them. Every once in a while, we do video calls on weekends too.”

His older brother said: “Usually when he calls me at odd hours, it’s not to say ‘hello, hello’. It’s to say ‘hello, can help me or not?’”

After a duration of about two to three years in their respective overseas detachments, the brothers will be posted back to Singapore.

There are a total of 350 airmen across the two Peace Carvin detachments, both of which are fighter jet squadrons.

RSAF has another detachment in Arizona, as well as others in Australia and France.

While technology has made it easier for the Yew brothers to keep in touch with their loved ones, being posted overseas means they cannot celebrate festive occasions such as Chinese New Year together.

This is when the communities in their respective detachments gather to prepare Singapore dishes such as laksa and chicken rice, so that everyone gets a taste of home.

It is this camaraderie that helped Captain Chua Kang Yi when he was out training and his seven-month-old son Maverick developed swollen eyes.

The 32-year-old F-15SG weapon systems officer, who is based in Idaho, said that as he was in the air and uncontactable, his wife Vivian sought help from the spouse of one of the Peace Carvin V detachment airmen to take their son to the hospital.

Capt Chua said: “That is the kind of help (we extend) to one another. There are quite a lot of families living together… and instead of being just a friend or a colleague, I know all of their spouses and families.

“When we go camping, for example, we also go with other personnel’s parents who have come here to visit.”

His in-laws visited in end-January to help with the delivery of baby Maverick, as Capt Chua was busy with his instructor course.

“They came for a good three months to help take care of Vivian, as well as Maverick, so that was really helpful.”

Asked about the inspiration behind their son’s name, Mrs Vivian Chua, 31, said they were inspired by actor Tom Cruise’s character in the 2022 Top Gun sequel.

“We feel that he’s quite a good role model in the movie… in the future when Maverick asks why we chose this name for him, there’s a role model he can aspire to,” she said.

“We also hope that he will end up becoming interested in the aviation industry, so that he will be like his father, who can show him the ropes.”