Career pattern in SAF
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Eh, i'm prob abit young too start asking this, but just curious, whats the career pattern like for SAF officers? how many years between promotion on avg.?
i know most retire with between 1 to 3 crabs, but was reading the papers today, found that BG Lee Hsien Loong was BG at 32... den i checked the govt site and found that BG George Yeo was BG at 34, R Adm Teo Chee Hean was Radm at 37, etc, etc
those career paths are accelerated by how much? whats the usual pattern like? just curious... thanx in advance... -
they are scholars and NSmen aka not regular
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they were all regular until they received the rank which they currently still hold.
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Pes E personnel are mostly clerk right.
Do they still have to collect their S.B.O and Helmet and etc...?
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doink..!!!!Originally posted by martin_lim85:Pes E personnel are mostly clerk right.
Do they still have to collect their S.B.O and Helmet and etc...?
out of topic hor? -
hahaha oops it just came across my mindOriginally posted by BaByBoY:doink..!!!!
out of topic hor? -
no they dontOriginally posted by martin_lim85:Pes E personnel are mostly clerk right.
Do they still have to collect their S.B.O and Helmet and etc...? -
even lee hsien long??Originally posted by laser51088:they were all regular until they received the rank which they currently still hold. -
yes they were all SAF regulars - no diff in that. the only diff is their super accelerated career paths.Originally posted by BaByBoY:even lee hsien long?? -
then they give me a box of pen and pencil.Originally posted by wuming78:no they dont
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Note that DPM Lee had SAFOS + President's Scholar. Powerful combination sia. Which partially explains the accelerationOriginally posted by wuming78:yes they were all SAF regulars - no diff in that. the only diff is their super accelerated career paths.
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i think every year one of the president's scholar is a SAFOS holder too. nothing out of the ordinary.Originally posted by deathscythe99:Note that DPM Lee had SAFOS + President's Scholar. Powerful combination sia. Which partially explains the acceleration -
The only thing that is extraordinary is the fact that this is his father's army.Originally posted by wuming78:i think every year one of the president's scholar is a SAFOS holder too. nothing out of the ordinary. -
For the rest of us who are classified as "farmers" the pattern goes something like this:
Rank Period
2LT 1 year
LTA1 2 years
LTA2 1.5 - 2 years
CPT1 2 years
CPT2 Depends on how fucked up you are but min 2 years
MAJ Generally a period of 5-6 years for both grades combined but dun expect much if you're FUBAR or never got chance to go SCSC.
LTC Sort of the ceiling for most farmers so can safely say till you retire.
COL You gotta be freakin good to reach this stage without a recognised degree. -
yaya.... ever since LHL get the star at that age. SAF have no choice but to give out one or two star every years in order to stop ppl from talking behind.Originally posted by laser51088:they were all regular until they received the rank which they currently still hold. -
Just anOriginally posted by Obersturmfuhrer:For the rest of us who are classified as "farmers" the pattern goes something like this:
Rank Period
2LT 1 year
LTA1 2 years
LTA2 1.5 - 2 years
CPT1 2 years
CPT2 Depends on how fucked up you are but min 2 years
MAJ Generally a period of 5-6 years for both grades combined but dun expect much if you're FUBAR or never got chance to go SCSC.
LTC Sort of the ceiling for most farmers so can safely say till you retire.
COL You gotta be freakin good to reach this stage without a recognised degree.
Talking on career pattern of scholars as an office, is that any scholars NCOs or what we all know as Specialists today arh? Too many scholars in the officer rank liao. So far the youngest 2WO is 26 or 27.(not a scholars) If a scholars sign as NCO, maybe we can see SWO at 30. 
Wow sie... like that he shake leg till 45
. 15 years as SWO he will be DIV RSM, OC in school, Dy S3 in school, HQ OC, S4 in school, ARMY RSM. Like that oso can't shake much leg but no one dare to tell him off anything oso. But no much ppl want as he SWO still have to call the YSL sir.
By than he should be getting around 8k to 10k per mth oso depending on his vocation. -
din know captain got two grades, thanx. what levels are considered pen pushing level? at what level will u stop being able roll in mud?
i think if advance to fast n end up as general at 30+ years old also quite sian what, whats d point of joining the military if u jump so fast and dun get the actual physical excitement?
*grin, if thats his father's army, then all of u who went thorugh NS liao are his father's soldiers!!Originally posted by Obersturmfuhrer:The only thing that is extraordinary is the fact that this is his father's army. -
Bn comds (MAJ2 to LTC1) are still expected to lead their Bn in combat, Bde comds (LTC2 to COL) are also often seen moving in SBO in the rear among the "antenna field" during large scale exercises. Most officers start pen-pushing after OC tour (unless they sway enough not to go thru that) but they may be cycled back to become Bn CO and so on if they are deemed to have command potential. Kinda sad life if you ask me, riding a desk instead of your rifle.Originally posted by laser51088:din know captain got two grades, thanx. what levels are considered pen pushing level? at what level will u stop being able roll in mud?
i think if advance to fast n end up as general at 30+ years old also quite sian what, whats d point of joining the military if u jump so fast and dun get the actual physical excitement? -
I can offer some personal input; my brother just made LTC recently, at age 37. He was a NSF commissioned officer, but didn't sign on until after he ORD'd & have completed his NTU degree course. It was interesting tracking his career; he wasn't a shooting star by any means, but got promoted at roughly the "right" stages. There's a underlying professional momentum affecting all regulars, & the status perception is being "condemned" if they don't attain a certain rank by a certain age (esp. prior to getting the 1st crab.)
Finished OCS - 2LT
Before ORD - LTA
Mid-20s - CPT, usually with a command stint at the company level or equivalent
29/30/31 years old - MAJ
Up to this rank, the promotions road is generally consistent & predictable; a regular officer would also tend to finish his 1st bond commitment by the end of this period. Thereafter, there's more of a "politics" element that come into play, since there's only so much available appointments for MAJ or higher, & a candidate would have to compete with the scholars who're on the fast track. It also takes place more in the staff-officer (not combat-) arena, so your track record of requisite training courses is also a big factor. My brother also used the opportunity around this stage to finish a Master's degree in Public Policy.
As for Lee Hsien Loong - & also the other Big 4 military scholars/politicians (George Yeo, Teo Chee Hean, Lim Hng Kiang, Lim Swee Say) - I think their rapid SAF achievements have more to do with the fact that Singapore was trying to create a professional officer corps as quickly as possible from the early 70's onwards. It's a credit to them that they didn't fail the test.
Prior to that, the pioneer officers were either remnants of the SVC & SMF - 1SIR/2SIR (& national service in general) were initiated with self-government in the late 50's, rather than independence in '65 - or commissioned with the new SAFTI-trained batch. The military in the early days was also PAP-controlled; flip through the pages of the Singapore Artillery 100th Anniversary book & you'll see Goh Keng Swee reviewing troops - in military dress as a "Honorary Colonel"!
Thus, there's fast track for today's SAF scholars, & there's a more-urgent fast track for their predecessors 2 decades ago. Here's a link of that era's progressive batch: LHL was the launcher of the program in '71; the other quartet were chosen 2 years later (though it was TCH, being career naval officer, ended up as the least politically experienced today).
http://www.scholar.mindef.gov.sg/ourscholars_succ_intro.asp
Even as all senior officers should complete a CO stint with a combat unit at some point, those who are scholars aren't always required to do this "linear-ly". In other words, they may be posted to attend staff-officer courses (local & overseas) earlier in their careers; the implication being MINDEF or the SAF taking a long-term view of grooming. That's partly why the non-scholar officers sometimes feel 2nd-class & shortchanged, after being bypassed for promotion or reposting in favor of the high-fliers. So much for meritocracy ~lol~