DEDICATED AND MULTI-SKILLED LEADERS FOR THE 3RD GENERATION SAF

To better meet the demands of current and future security challenges, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has to be prepared to undertake a broader set of roles to uphold Singapore's peace and stability.

The move toward a 3rd Generation fighting force include restructuring the SAF to strengthen inter-service and inter-agency coordination; modernising and networking of its units, platforms and systems; and most crucially, to preparing SAF personnel with the appropriate mental attitude and skill sets needed.

This was pointed out by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean in his speech at the combined graduation ceremony of the 40th Command and Staff Course (CSC) and the 10th National Service Command and Staff Course (NSCSC) at the Istana on 30 Oct.

"Military officers, especially senior commanders, need important new and multi-faceted skills to lead the 3rd Generation SAF to accomplish its wider spectrum of missions... this flexibility and adaptability demands a highly trained and motivated soldier who can see beyond his immediate situation," Mr Teo noted.

A total of 150 graduands from the 40th CSC and the 10th NSCSC received their certificates from Mr Teo. They comprised 106 regular officers and 28 National Service (NS) officers from the SAF, one officer from the Singapore Police Force and 15 international officers from Australia, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

The 32-week NSCSC, together with the 41-week CSC, help develop senior SAF officers for key leadership roles in the 3rd Generation SAF.

Graduands interviewed attributed the successful completion of their courses to supportive family members and their course mates; and in the case of the graduands of the NSCSC, colleagues and bosses who recognised the importance of their contribution to the nation's defence.

Major (NS) (Dr) Koh Poh Koon, a medical officer who topped the 10th NSCSC course is one such example. A colorectal surgeon at the Singapore General Hospital, his course mates and wife were stellar in offering him moral support while he balanced the demands of his work life, family and NSCSC commitments.

"Amongst the course mates there was a lot of camaraderie... we helped to encourage each other and pull each other through," he said.

In addition, MAJ (NS) (Dr) Koh spoke of how his course mates went about establishing rules of intellectual engagement to cut down friction and create a conducive peer learning environment to mutually extend their intellectual horizon.

In his speech during the graduation ceremony, Mr Teo also commended two graduands from the NSCSC, Captain (NS) Eugene Chew Beng Guan and MAJ (NS)(Dr) Chong Yew Lam, who "exemplify the dedication and commitment of our NS Senior Commaders".

CPT (NS) Chew, a sales engineering manager in an European-owned company based in Bangkok, managed to take time off work to attend the NSCSC's residential phase, even though it meant that his employers had to re-arrange meetings and parcel out his workload in order to accommodate his course schedule.

Although juggling his work duties along with the NSCSC course demands was challenging, the thought of failing never crossed his mind.

"There was a lot of team-building with the other vocations, and I learnt a lot from my peers... it was an enriching experience. Everyone plays a part in national defence, not just me," he told cyberpioneer.

Similarly, MAJ (NS)(Dr) Chong, a urologist at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, had to manage heavy work commitments while on course. He took time during weekends to head back to the hospital to make his rounds, and was also called upon to perform a surgery during the course.

The strong friendships forged in the course of their training and the opportunity to interact with senior officers were cited as the award recipients' biggest takeaways.

For MAJ Koi Eng Chew, the top student from the Air Force cohort in the CSC, the course provided an unparalleled opportunity to work and network with officers from other services, ministries and the international community.

He opined that this would help in enhancing interoperability in the future, and that the core competency offered by the course in terms of higher strategic thinking would definitely benefit him in his role as an F-16 fighter pilot.

The graduating class of the 40th CSC is also the pioneer batch to benefit from the Memorandums of Understanding signed between the SAF and the National Technological University (NTU) and UniSim.

These initiatives to promote lifelong learning and to realise the full potential of SAF personnel allow them to pursue a further education at the tertiary insitutions with credits from the Singapore Command and Staff College (SCSC).

More than half of the graduating cohort of the 40th CSC have applied for this Continuing Education sponsorship for either the SAF-UniSIM or the SAF-NTU Masters Programme.

It was the first combined CSC and NSCSC graduation ceremony to be held, and it was made possible by scheduling the last two weeks of training for both courses at the same time.

The conducting of the NSCSC Residential Phase concurrently with the CSC Army Warfighting term underscores the importance of integration between the Regular and NS commanders.