Singapore Armed Forces ranks

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The Singapore Armed Forces has a unified rank structure, with the identical rank names and insignia for Officer, Warrant Officers, Specialists, and enlisted men throughout the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

The only exceptions to the unified rank structure firstly, the flag officer ranks, where the Navy retains the Admiral ranks. Other traditional Navy ranks such as Ensign and Commander have been replaced with Army-style ranks. The second instance is for the rank insignia for Private and Private First Class between the Air Force, and the Army and Navy.

Contents 1 Influences 2 Officer Corps 2.1 Officer's Creed 2.2 Farmers vs. Scholars 3 Warrant Officer and Specialist Corps 4 Insignia 4.1 Officers 4.2 Warrant officers 4.3 Specialists 4.4 Enlistees 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Influences

Despite Singapore's Commonwealth heritage, the American influence dominates. The Army Brigadier General is a flag rank, compared with the British Brigadier. Also, the Air Force does not use Navy-style ranks apart from the flag officers.

The British-style combination of pips, coats-of-arms, and laurel wreaths is no longer in use in the SAF. Instead, an easy to remember progression of bars for junior officers, to coats-of-arms, affectionately known as "crabs" for senior officers, to the American-style stars for flag officers. The one, two, three-bar, national insignia, star style of rank insignia is actually quite common in the world. This style is used by the Republic of China and South Korea for example. Incidentally, the American influence is especially obvious in the Rear Admiral (one star) and (two star) ranks.

The SAF rank structure, incidentally, is very similar to that of the of the Singapore Civil Defence Force. The Singapore Police Force rank structure, on the other hand, is still largely based on the British model.

[edit] Officer Corps

Potential officers in the SAF are selected at Basic Military Training Centre and School of Infantry Specialists. They are sent to Officer Cadet School to train, and are commissioned on graduation. Specialists may attend Officer Cadet School on recommendation as well. Even officers sent to train at friendly service academies complete the majority of the Officer Cadet Course and are commissioned prior. As a result, SAFTI Military Institute is considered the spiritual home of the Officer Corps.

Graduating from junior colleges or polytechnics is a prerequisite to be selected for OCS. Career officers with A level qualifications are expected to obtain further studies in university; many scholarships are given for university education at local or overseas universities.

The role of officers in the SAF mirrors that of most Western militaries. Officers are generalists who exercise leadership and command. They are assisted by the Specialists who provide technical expertise, train and discipline the enlistees, and serve as the institutional memory of the SAF.

[edit] Officer's Creed

The Officer's Creed states the roles and expectations of officers in the Singapore Armed Forces.

I am an officer of the Singapore Armed Forces. My Duty is to lead, to excel and to overcome. I lead my men by example. I answer for their training morale and discipline. I must excel in everything I do. I serve with pride, honour and integrity. I will overcome adversity with courage, fortitude and determination. I dedicate my life to Singapore.

[edit] Farmers vs. Scholars

As with many militaries, there exists numerous rivalries such as officer/non-officer, combat/logistics divides, Army/Navy/Air Force. Fortunately, because the members of the SAF are thoroughly integrated into society at large (compared with the US military for example), there are no major military/civilian issues.

Apart from such minor divisions, a more important dichotomy is observed between officers who are polytechnic or local university graduates (Farmers), and former scholarship holders who studied overseas (Scholars). This phenomenon exists because of fast-tracked careers, quick promotions, a dual-track career in the Civil Service after mandatory retirement offered as enticement for young men to take up SAF scholarships.^[1] While this state of affairs has existed since the Singapore government started giving out scholarships, the issue was mentioned in Parliament for the first time in a speech decrying the class-consciousness and social stratification resulting from the existing policies.^[2]

[edit] Warrant Officer and Specialist Corps

Potential Specialists are selected at Basic Military Training Centre and are trained at School of Infantry Specialists. The requirements for selection are similar to that of officers - graduation from junior college or polytechnic. The majority of soldiers who are selected to train to be Specialists by this route remain National Servicemen and usually do not decide to sign-on as regulars. This is most likely due to the better career prospects available outside the military to people with such educational qualifications.

The primary source of regular Specialists is from ITE and polytechnics, through various schemes which provide study grants.^{[3] [4] [5]} This scheme replaces the now-defunct SAF Boys School whose role was to give boys aged 14-17 who were not academically inclined a career in the military.^[6]

[edit] Insignia

The rank insignia for officers and warrant officers are worn on the shoulder boards with the appropriate background (green for Army, black for Navy, blue for Air Force, camouflage, etc.). NATO officer rank codes are included for comparison.

[edit] Officers

Black Navy shoulderboards used here are representative:

NATO rank code	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8
Rank	Second Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Brigadier General Rear Admiral (one star)	Major General Rear Admiral (two star)	Lieutenant General Vice Admiral
Abbreviation	2LT	LTA	CPT	MAJ	LTC	COL	BG RADM	MG RADM	LG VADM
Insignia

[edit] Warrant officers

Blue Air Force shoulderboards used here are representative:

Singapore Armed Forces Warrant Officer rank insignia

Rank	Second Warrant Officer	First Warrant Officer	Master Warrant Officer	Senior Warrant Officer
Abbreviation	2WO	1WO	MWO	SWO
Insignia

[edit] Specialists

Specialists wear their rank insignia on right and left sleeves. The top of their rank insignia should be 10 cm below the top of the sleeve, aligned to the crease. The green Army background used here is representative:

Singapore Armed Forces Specialist rank insignia

Rank	Third Sergeant	Second Sergeant	First Sergeant	Staff Sergeant	Master Sergeant
Abbreviation	3SG	2SG	1SG	SSG	MSG
Insignia

[edit] Enlistees

The situation for enlistees is a bit more complicated. Recruits of all services, as well as Army and Navy Privates do not wear any rank insignia. Air Force Privates wear a single stripe, which is identical to the Army and Navy Private First Class rank insignia. It is to be noted that the Private First Class rank is no longer awarded in the Army, though National Servicemen may still hold such a rank. Rank insignia are worn on both sleeves, 10 cm below the top of each sleeve, aligned to the crease just as the case for Specialists.

Singapore Armed Forces Enlistees rank insignia

Rank	Recruit Army, Navy Private	Army, Navy Private First Class Air Force Private	Lance Corporal	Corporal
Abbreviation	REC PTE	PFC PTE	LCP	CPL
Insignia	(nil)

[edit] See also

• Naval officer ranks
• Comparative military ranks

[edit] References

• SAF Military Ranks. MINDEF website. Retrieved on March 26, 2005.

1. ^ MINDEF, Scholarships, 19 Apr 2006, accessed 19 Nov 2006.
2. ^ Chang, C., Why have we become OBSESSED WITH PERFORMANCE?, The New Paper, 10 Sep 2006.
3. ^ MINDEF, Army Recruitment Centre, accessed 19 Nov 2006.
4. ^ MINDEF, Republic of Singapore Navy Scholarships and Awards, 30 Oct 2006, accessed 19 Nov 2006.
5. ^ MINDEF, Sponsorships for Specialists, accessed 19 Nov 2006.
6. ^ MINDEF, Fond Memories of the SAF Boys School, accessed 19 Nov 2006.

[edit] External links

• Ranks and Paramilitary Ranks of Singapore, accessed 23 Oct 2006.