Goh Keng Swee. Hands down.
He was instrumental in developing the SAF from its humble
beginnings as a volunteer force to what it is now. A 3G
military.
Used to hear from an Army veteran that during the days when he
was Defence Minister, he would come down to Army camps to do spot
checks.
After leaving Malaysia, Dr Goh Keng Swee was the only one
in the PAP Government with some military background, being a
corporal in the Singapore Volunteer Corp.
He invited The first ‘Mexicans’ of
SAF to help in the creation of the SAF in 1966.
He certainly did not visit every SAF Camp, only 1SIR,
20SA, 40SAR and SAFTI - as these units formed the backbone of
the SAF then.
The airforce also got his close attention and was then operating
the Hawker Hunters at Tengah and Changi Air Bases, and with
the Bloodhound I surface to air missiles located at
Seletar.
In 1966, the navy was only a two wooden boat affair with the
ancient County Class LST and all located at Pulau Brani - which is
now merged to Singapore island when it was an island between
Singapore main island and Pulau Blankang Mati (now known as
Sentosa).
The 30 SCE located at Pulau Blankang Mati surely did not
get to see him as the early batches struggled with the building of
the ancient Bailey Bridges - experiencing quite a few
casualties.
