2nd Lieutenant (now Major) Fazli Sabrin, and I, during an ops along the Strait of Malacca
I was with Yummy Baby after DSA08 Plus 2 and have just finished meeting some friends for tea; and as we were leaving, I saw a familiar figure. His eyes widened, and so did mine, and we both exclaimed at the same time, “Woi, Kamdo! “(a way of saying the word ‘Commando’). We hugged each other for quite some time.
Enter Major Fazli Sabrin, RMAF; a test pilot for the Sukhoi Su-30 MKM, the latest air superiority multirole fighter in our Air Force’s inventory. Now attached to No.11 Squadron, based at RMAFB Gong Kedak, Fazli was a junior of mine (by 2 intakes) and, like me, was also a HANDAU (now PASKAU) officer.
Fazli and I first met in 1991 when we both represented the Air Force in the M-16 Shooting Proficiency Test (another term for ‘shooting competition’) at the Kem Syed Putra in Tambun, Ipoh (home of a Army Rangers battalion then). We won. Then early 1992, he was teamed with me in an ops along the Strait of Malacca for six months, and became both my 2-I/C (2nd in Command), and also my best buddy. After the team was disbanded with the end of the ops, I was transfered to Ipoh while he was transfered to what was then RMAFB Kluang (now home of the Army Air Corps).
When the Air Force was facing a shortage of pilots, he volunteered to give up his blue beret for a wing, and reported to Alor Setar in 1994, where I was the OC of No.107 Squadron HANDAU; and he once prepped my aircraft so I could do an evening flight to Langkawi to meet my Thai counterparts for a border intelligence discussions (PC-7s rarely fly after 1600 hours then, except during night flying exercises, and my twilight flight was a rare exception). I chose him to prep my aircraft because I could trust him with my life.
I lost touch with him after I left the Air Force in December 1995, but found out he was flying the Hawks from RMAFB Butterworth.
Poor Yummy Baby had to stand and wait while these two old friends exchanged notes for a while.
It is good to know that a good man like him is now part of the mainstay of the defence of our airspace.
SeaDemon Says 