HONING THEIR CRAFT AS SENIOR MILITARY EXPERTS

Females may not be able to match the physical strength of males, but they are no less capable when it comes to exhibiting leadership and technical expertise, said Army Engineer Debbie Phua.

With this in mind, she set her heart to excel in her Military Domain Experts Course (MDEC) as the only female Army personnel in a cohort of 30. Her efforts earned her the Sword of Honour at the 2nd Senior Military Experts Appointment Ceremony held at SAFTI Military Institute on 9 Dec.

At the ceremony, 17 military experts from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, six from the Republic of Singapore Navy, six from the Army and one from Joint Service attained the rank of Military Expert (ME) 4 after completing the MDEC.

The MDEC, which spans up to 49 weeks, helps military experts to develop their leadership competency, deepen their military domain knowledge and hone their specialisation skills.

Minister of State for Defence and Education Lawrence Wong, who officiated at the ceremony, said this to the graduands: "With your deep professional expertise and experience in domains ranging from engineering to intelligence and military medicine, you play an important role in enabling the SAF to operate our wide range of sophisticated equipment and systems, and maximising them to their fullest potential."

He also reminded them of the need for continuous development: "There are no short cuts to achieving a high level of expertise. To be an expert, to truly master your craft, you must have a passion for what you do. Most importantly, you have to spend time and effort to practise and improve yourself."

On this point, he commended Military Medical Expert ME4 Kelly Foo, whom he said displayed the passion to learn and the desire to push boundaries when she underwent the Medical Officers' Conversion Course (MOCC) as part of the MDEC.

Besides graduating from the MOCC with the Top Knowledge award, she also recently assumed the appointment of Chief Warrant Officer in the Navy Medical Service.

Asked what she gained out of the MDEC, ME4 Foo replied: "As a Fleet Senior Medic previously, my role was just to provide medical support for the fleet. After attending MDEC, I got a broader view of medical services and I'm now involved in things like drafting medical support plans for naval operations."

Another graduand Air Force Engineer ME4 Ishvinder Singh commented that the MDEC was introspective.

Said the deputy officer-in-charge of logistics in 143 Squadron, which operates the F-16 fighter jets: "Connecting with people is very important in my appointment. The course helped me realise the areas I'm lacking in and how I can improve on my people management skills," he said.

As the newly-minted Senior Military Experts move on to assume command or technical appointments in their professional areas, ME4 Phua has set new targets for her career.

"I'm not yet an expert in the engineering field, and I've a long career ahead. As the SAF gets more technologically advanced and invests in new equipment, I want to familiarise myself with such equipment and hopefully, be part of the team to bring these technologies into the SAF."