Good day,
I'm currently serving NS as a man in an Air Force GBAD (Ground
Based Air Defence) unit. I'm thinking of signing on to become an
Air Warfare Officer in the same unit after university. I'll be
taking Mechanical Engineering in NUS, which would be very relevant
for my unit as we deal with equipments a lot.
I hope to sign on only after university because I don't want to
regret when I'm studying and realise I prefer to do something else
more. I didn't try for OCS and SCS during BMT because I disliked
army then and found it a bore. It was only when I entered my
current unit that I realise that it wasn't so regimental and
started to find NS more interesting. I also don't think of signing
with the MDES (at least not now) because combat seemed more
interesting. Thus, I have several questions in mind that I wish to
have answered, all with the assumption that I graduate with a
normal degree:
1) How long will it take to uprank to say, CPT, MAJ and then LTC
after I enter unit as an AWO?
2) Will SLTC be the maximum rank I can reach, or is COL and even BG
possible (or are those reserved for MINDEF
scholars)?
3) How will my career path be affected if I sign on only after
university? Will I uprank much later than others with the same
qualification?
4) How is the pay like as I progress? I know the starting pay, but
what about thereafter?
5) Will they allow me to go back to the same unit? I really want to
go back to the same place.
Or are there any advice regarding this? I could use some feedback
to aid my decision in signing on in the future, or perhaps even
bring it forward. It would be great if any regulars could
share.
Thanks in advance.
p.s. I think my parents will be utterly surprised if I ever signed
on lol.