Mindef JOINT DEPT
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There are Army, Airforce and Navy. So much about them what about the JOINT? it seems that not many people around know of it existant and its role in Singapore's defence structure.
For those who havent really seen its logo. Its a merging of a bayonet, a pair of wings and an anchor into 1 representing tri services beautifully designed.
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got pic?
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Military Intelligence is a Joint Tri-Service dept. Look at the main icon on the SAF Intelligence insignia to see the tri-service logo:
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/joint/io/ -
nice
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There are actually more units under Joint than you realise. SAFTI-MI is actually under Joint Svcs for example. After saying that, compared to the other servcies, Joint also has less real estate under their command but some would say they have more "influence" due to the command structure. *shrugs* debatable, after all CDF heads the Joint Svc no?
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I think a Chief of Staff heads it....there were many restructuring during the 90s i think..
Yeap, the Tri-Service Ensignia...argued with my friend once who say it is the Intelligence Emblem...
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The correct term is "Joint Staff". MINDEF has a number of Chiefs-of-Staff; the Chief of Defence Force himself is also once similarly designated, I recall. Anyway, the job title here is "Chief-of-Staff, Joint Staff" - or according to Tim Huxley, "Director, Joint Staff". He reports to the CDF in rank hierarchy.
In his book, Huxley also lists JOPD (Joint Operations & Policy Directorate), JID (Joint Intelligence Directorate), FMLB (Foreign Military Liason Branch), SAFTI MI & HQ Medical Corps as part of the Joint Staff. -
nowadays it is 3-in-1 liao...apart from the kopi...it is in the military too
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Okay, refreshed myself. Here goes:
The SAF nomenculture is clearer nowadays, partly the result of organizational growth. You have the CDF, who oversees the Chief of Staff-Joint Staff & the 3 service chiefs (Army, Air Force, Navy). Each has his own staff, with the Joint Staff a separate entity but coordinates joint-service tasks.
It wasn't always like that, though the ambitions were the same. In particular, I recall some public confusion over Lee Hsien Loong's designation (Chief of Staff-General Staff) during the Cable Car Rescue of 1983. 1stly, it read too similarly to Winston Choo's Chief of the General Staff (i.e. predecessor of the CDF). 2ndly, it overemphasizes on some sort of bureaucractic affliation (which was incorrect). 3rdly, nothing about it suggests he's actually the army commander.
How come like that? Simple, when the SAF began in '68, it was relatively small enough to have the Director-General Staff (later Chief of the General Staff) running the service army as well as the smaller SADC & SMC.
Then in the mid-'70s, SADC & SMC was developed enough to be separated as RSAF & RSN respectively. Both, however, retained a junior status within the SAF, headed "only" by colonels for almost a decade. (This was just before my enlistment). The Chief of the General Staff remained overall commander, with the Deputy Chief of the General Staff the 2nd most-senior serving officer & running the still-big army.
Up to the early '80s, the SAF was institutionally integrated more on paper, but more concrete coordination was needed to meet its expansion. Hence the forming of the Joint Staff in 1983, after Lee's pilot scheme (joint service committees) proved unpractical. The post of Deputy Chief of the General Staff would be changed to Chief of Staff-General Staff & then Deputy Chief of the General Staff-Army through that decade. Imagine the head-scratching ~lol~
Come the 1990s & the reorganization under the combined arms banner, the Chief of the General Staff became the Chief of Defence Force, & the Deputy Chief of the General Staff-Army became the Chief of Army. The RSAF, RSN & - near end of decade - the Joint Staff also had their status raised & commanded by generals (one or two stars) or equivalent.
Huxley said the Director-JOPD now runs the Joint Staff as its Chief of Staff-Joint Staff. FYI George Yeo headed that department back in the late '80s before he quit to enter politics. Teo Chee Hean was Chief of Navy & supposedly earmarked for the CDF job before he left the service as well.