Singaporean Armoured Corps Training Centre

[FJAG]

Every once in a while you come across something you didn't know.

Singapore has a defence budget lower than ours with a regular force army of some 70,000 and a reserve in excess of 300,000 organized into three regular combined arms divisions and two operational reserve divisions. This little video is about their armoured training centre which is currently being commanded by their first female Chief Warrant Officer (all of you folks on the air force NCM pilot's web take note)

Peek Into The Army

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Armed_Forces

 

[Colin Parkinson]

They also have a Discovery centre where school kids learn about their upcoming duties under national Service https://www.sdc.com.sg/about/story. It's quite impressive and would shock many of the educators here for it's nationalistic and military messaging. I know several ex-Singaporean Army Reserve Officers, getting into the "right regiment" is key to your future networking success.

 

[daftandbarmy]

They also operate a pretty ruthless system of conscription as a requirement for citizenship.

National service in Singapore - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And they have to, given China's intentions (among others who have their eye on this particular 'golden goose').

 

[dimsum]

I know several ex-Singaporean Army Reserve Officers, getting into the "right regiment" is key to your future networking success.

Isn't that the case for pretty much all armies though?

This little video is about their armoured training centre which is currently being commanded by their first female Chief Warrant Officer (all of you folks on the air force NCM pilot's web take note)

I admit I know little about how armoured units are commanded (obviously there's a CO but what the troop (?) officers do) but maybe that's more reasonable considering it's not like all tanks have a commissioned officer in them? If SNCOs have always commanded, say, 3/4 of tanks then it's not unreasonable to have an NCM leading their school. Or, maybe the SAF's delineation of duties is different - AFAIK they have some sort of "specialist" set of ranks too that are completely separate from the NCM/Officer ones.

 

[FJAG]

Isn't that the case for pretty much all armies though?


I admit I know little about how armoured units are commanded (obviously there's a CO but what the troop (?) officers do) but maybe that's more reasonable considering it's not like all tanks have a commissioned officer in them? If SNCOs have always commanded, say, 3/4 of tanks then it's not unreasonable to have an NCM leading their school. Or, maybe the SAF's delineation of duties is different - AFAIK they have some sort of "specialist" set of ranks too that are completely separate from the NCM/Officer ones.

You're right, One officer commands a troop of four tanks (including his own tank) while three of the tanks in his troop are commanded by NCOs.

The Singapore command structure is interesting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Armed_Forces_ranks#Rank_structure

What I find striking is the they have eliminated the senior NCO ranks and replaced them with "WOs" and "Specialists".

Warrant officers serve as senior mentors and disciplinarians in units as well as training institutes.[13] Warrant officers are appointed by the Armed Forces Council, and may be given command responsibility of units and serve as disciplinary or investigating officers for military offences.

Specialists serve as the junior commanders in the Singapore Armed Forces. They are specifically trained in a variety of equipment and skills and are considered "subject matter experts". They take responsibility for leading and training small units and work together with commissioned officers.[10][13][14] The specialist corps (as well as the warrant officer corps) were introduced in 1992 to replace the previous non-commissioned officer corps.

The WO rank seems more like the US Army WO one. While the WOs are drawn from the Specialist corps, there does not seem to be a need to climb your way through the Specialist rank structure. It seems to be more a minimum time of service and a selection process.

Note also the parallel "Military Expert" rank structure. The ME system seems to bypass the typical career progression system for very technical specialties to a more streamlined one.

https:///web/2013121...ry_Domain_Experts_Scheme_Details_Unveiled.pdf

It looks like an interesting system that draws off the basic concept of a conscripted force -- the "enlistees" -- and builds from there.

 

[daftandbarmy]

It looks like an interesting system that draws off the basic concept of a conscripted force -- the "enlistees" -- and builds from there.

I know a few people who were in the Army in Singapore. As with most conscript armies it's more like the 'temporary cannon fodder' and the Illustrious Career Soldiers. The former tend to look down on the latter as 'only able to get a measly government job', and the latter take it out on the former when they have them in their grip.

Gee, where have I seen that kind of military governance culture play out before?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Singapore is very business oriented and some of the conscripts are quite wealthy and it may be the first time they spend time with people other than their wealthy peers.

then there was this scandal

Which led to this meme

 

[daftandbarmy]

Singapore is very business oriented and some of the conscripts are quite wealthy and it may be the first time they spend time with people other than their wealthy peers.

then there was this scandal

Which led to this meme