Starting next July, moving to this rank will be a necessary step
before promotion to Colonel
By Jermyn Chow
THE Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will introduce a new rank for
commissioned officers next year, the first time it has done so in
its 43-year history.
The new Senior Lieutenant-Colonel rank will designate those who
have been tapped for higher appointments in the army, navy and
air force.
The insignia for the new rank will be two SAF crests and a
braid.
Lieutenant-Colonels, who wear two SAF crests, will have to
attain the new rank before they can be promoted to Colonel.
Images of the new rank insignia were first shown in SAF
recruitment advertisements which appeared in print and other
advertisements last Thursday.
Eagle-eyed readers who spotted the insignia and were puzzled by
it then wrote to The Straits Times to find out more.
There has also been much online chatter about how the new rank
will alter the career tracks of SAF officers.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Defence
Ministry confirmed that the new rank will be rolled out next
July.
The new rank is among sweeping changes to the SAF's employment
schemes for regulars, including a key one that will raise the
retirement age for officers to 50, unveiled in May to make serving
in the military a more attractive and rewarding career option.
Military analysts were surprised by the move to introduce a new
rank within the current nine-rank structure of the officer corps -
one that was initially modelled on that of the British
military.
Few militaries in the world have a variant of the Senior
Lieutenant-Colonel rank. Among them are the armed forces of China,
Vietnam and North Korea.
Dr Tim Huxley, executive director of the Singapore-based
International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the move
baffled him.
'The rank structure is already complicated enough, said Dr
Huxley, who has written a book on the SAF, entitled Defending The
Lion City: The Armed Forces Of Singapore.
'I just don't see how injecting an additional rank
helps.' (Just wait longer!!!)
Several officers contacted by The Straits Times said they had
been briefed on the details of the new rank at the beginning of the
year, along with other changes to an officer's career track.
There are about 4,000 commissioned officers serving in the SAF
now.
An army lieutenant-colonel who did not want to be named said the
newly created rank would give some officers who choose not to
assume higher command appointments the opportunity to specialise as
chief trainers.
He said: 'At the same time, they can still be rewarded for the
more complex roles that come with their job.'
Giving hope to some Condemned Officers...
