Learning defence management through sharing

"This course was a real eye-opener for me as it went beyond providing just technical knowledge but (also) insights into the policies of defence capability development and management," said Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Ong Chiou Peng, Head of Army Systems Branch, at the closing ceremony of the Defence Management System Course 2017 held at Temasek Club on 12 May.

The biennial Ministry of Defence course, which has been running since 1996, is attended by senior scientific and engineering, and capability development officers from MINDEF, SAF, DSTA and DSO. It is also extended to other government agencies concerned with national security and local defence industry partners.

The five-week long course, held from 10 Apr to 12 May, is organised to cover lessons in strategic planning and resource management, technology management, and capability development management.

Military Expert (ME) 6 Sreekanth Shankar, who was the Class IC, said: "I think none of us (alone) in the DTC will know the full extent of the work all the other agencies are doing due to security issues. Therefore, personal and mature sharing sessions held during the course helped us better understand the projects that various agencies have undertaken so as to facilitate closer working relations."

LTC Ong, 38, agreed and had an additional takeaway: "Learning about the mistakes that my predecessors have made has allowed me to look at things from different angles which would prevent me from repeating those mistakes".

After listening to all the discussions in the course, ME6 Sreekanth felt more assured about Singapore's defence as he believes that Singapore is well-equipped to defend against today's threats.

"Even though we are ready, we cannot stagnate. We must continue to improve and make sure that our technology keeps up with the evolving security issues in order to maintain our technological edge," said the Commanding Officer of 807 Squadron, Air Engineering and Logistics Group.

Elaborating more on the threats that the nation may face in the near future, ME6 Sreekanth predicted that cyber threats will take centre stage.

"The world as we know it is getting increasingly digitalised. We have to learn how to process and analyse large volumes of information and continue to strengthen our cyber security. Cyber security threats are not like any other challenges we have faced before and we have to invest resources and good people in order to tackle this issue," said the 40-year-old.

Adding on to this, Ms Ho Shuet Ying, Deputy Director (Capability Development) from Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA), said she believed Singapore faced cyber security threats at two levels -- the national level and the military level.

"Cyber threats at a national level refers to the Internet of Things, which refers to machines that are capable of communicating with other machines, safeguarding the integrity of online banking, and protecting people's privacy. On the other hand, military forces are dealing with the possible hacking of their military vehicles and infrastructure."

The 39-year-old elaborated: "To deal with all these threats, we have agencies in place such as the Cyber Security Agency to deal with security threats in everyday life, while the Singapore Armed Forces has a strong foundation in tackling cyber threats on a military level."

Finding like-minded people in the course made Ms Ho believe that the members of DTC are aligned to the common objective of improving Singapore's defence.

"Most of us have been in our respective appointments for at least half a decade. I think there is a reason why we are not out there chasing the next higher-paying job and it is because we see a purpose in what we do. And this gives me the confidence to say that we can solve any problems as long as we work together."

Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF's) LTC Goh Boon Han, who has not been involved much in defence management and technology, was uncertain that this course would be relevant to his job at first.

"Being a Senior Assistant Director of Operations Planning and Project in Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), I was involved more in day-to-day operations such as fire rescue operations and contingency planning for events like Youth Olympic Games. Therefore, I couldn't see how this course would help me at work initially.

"However, after listening to the frank sharing of the various challenges faced by the other organisations, I realised that they are very similar to the kind of challenges in the SCDF."

While most participants may remember the technical aspects of the course, LTC Goh believes that the course has a human dimension to it as well.

"Courses like this allow me to expand my circle of friends. So, if I want to explore certain technology such as robotics, I can call up some of the friends I've made during this course to ask them for brief details before I decide whether I want to invest my resources into developing such technology," said the 38-year-old.

The closing ceremony was attended by Guest of Honour 2nd Minister for Defence Ong Ye Kung and it marked the 11th edition of the course. This year's course was attended by 62 participants who were taught by more than 80 lecturers.