ARMY PROMOTES 82 TO 2ND AND 3RD WARRANT OFFICER

Aiming for a promotion at work? Try taking initiative.

That is what 3rd Warrant Officer (3WO) Alan Poh has been doing in his career in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), and was one of the reasons for his promotion to 2WO.

"Whenever I'm able to contribute in doing events or projects, I'll try to get involved, so maybe that's what my superiors saw in me," said 3WO Poh, an Investigating Officer in the SAF Military Police Command.

At a promotion ceremony held at Pasir Laba Camp on 29 Nov, 82 Army personnel, including 3WO Poh, received their certificates of promotion from Chief of Army Major-General (MG) Ravinder Singh.

Among the promotees, 42 were promoted from 3WO to 2WO while 23 were promoted from the rank of Master Sergeant (MSG) to 3WO. Seventeen Operationally-Ready National Servicemen (NSmen) were also promoted from MSG to 3WO.

Congratulating the promotees, MG Singh said: "Your promotion is a recognition of the hard work, dedication and sacrifice that you have made to the Army and the SAF. It is also a recognition of the leadership that you have provided to your soldiers in the units."

"I'm confident that each one of you will continue to uphold the values exemplified by the Warrant Officer Corps to fulfil your role as warfighters, leaders and trainers in our Army," he added.

Expressing his delight at being promoted to 3WO, MSG (NS) Ramlee Bin Mohamed Lani, a Headquarters Company Sergeant Major (CSM) at 13th Singapore Infantry Brigade, said: "This promotion shows that the organisation values my contributions as an NSman, and I'm very proud that they acknowledge my work."

Despite completing his 10-year Operationally Ready National Service (ORNS) training cycle in 2008, MSG (NS) Ramlee, who is an Executive Administrative Staff at the Ministry of Education, chose to take up the Reservists on Voluntary Extended Reserve Scheme (ROVERS).

When asked why, he cited his relationship with a closely-knit Guards family as the main reason: "If I don't come back for In-Camp Training (ICT), I feel like I'm letting my brothers down... Furthermore, my wife is very supportive whenever I come back for ICT because she knows I enjoy it."

Besides feeling appreciated with her promotion to 3WO, MSG Oh Winnie, a Training Specialist in Headquarters Singapore Combat Engineers, was eager to embark on a new journey in the Warrant Officer Corps.

She explained: "Throughout my specialist career, the greatest achievement was leading a platoon of about 70 NSFs (Full-time National Servicemen), to complete their final assessment in an exercise before their ORD (Operationally-Ready Date)."

She continued: "After the promotion, I'm likely to become a trainer of NSmen, and after that, I may proceed to become a CSM, where I'll lead about 100 men, and I'm looking forward to that."

The promotions will take effect from 1 Jan 2013.