Do Platoon Sergeants have enough experience?
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Interesting comparison and contrast from SG and UK army websites:
SG 3rd Sergeant (Section Commander) - 38 weeks from recruit
SG 2nd Sergeant (Platoon Sergeant) - 1 year 38 weeks from recruit
UK Corporal (Section Commander) - 9 years from recruit
UK Sergeant (Platoon Sergeant) - 12.5 years from recruit -
Especially those air levels ones very fu-cked up and blurred.Think fitness is everything...No leadership and man management skills at all.Sighzzz...
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not sure if this is a fair comparison. is the duration for SG also applicable to regulars?
anyway with a limited pool of population to tap from to form our defence force, it is not practical for us to practise what the UK does.
a fairer comparison will be one with another conscript force, from a country with comparable population. -
my BMT Platoon Sergeant is a bo chup cannot-make-it fellow. talk about leading with pride. sigh.
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normally u compared the %centage.
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My BMT platoon sergeant talks like he has a dick in his mouth..
everffffboffddyyyfff fffaafffll inffffff
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Wuming78Originally posted by wuming78:not sure if this is a fair comparison. is the duration for SG also applicable to regulars?
anyway with a limited pool of population to tap from to form our defence force, it is not practical for us to practise what the UK does.
a fairer comparison will be one with another conscript force, from a country with comparable population.
No criticism intended.
The question still remains however, how much advice and support can a platoon sergeant with 2 years experience give an inexperienced officer on the battlefield?
And if the answer is 'not much', what is the solution? -
Wuming78Originally posted by wuming78:not sure if this is a fair comparison. is the duration for SG also applicable to regulars?
anyway with a limited pool of population to tap from to form our defence force, it is not practical for us to practise what the UK does.
a fairer comparison will be one with another conscript force, from a country with comparable population.
No criticism intended.
The question still remains however, how much advice and support can a platoon sergeant with 2 years experience give an inexperienced officer on the battlefield?
And if the answer is 'not much', what is the solution? -
In singapore.. it is really no choice but they got to go by this system. otherwise there's not enough people going around to fill in the NS units positions.
let's not talk about BMT platoon sergeants.... but unit PS "usually" have 2-4 years experience before taking on a PS role. While uncomparable to UK, they would have more exp than a newly post in PC in a mono-intake.
We cannot really use UK as an example. UK has very few ranks to rise up. they only have 7 NCO ranks. PTE->CPL->SGT->SSG and 3 grades of WO.
also note that WO overseas have VERY VERY different roles than in SIngapore.
e.g. There can be only 1 warrant officer first class in the entire army.
unlike singapore where there is 40+ SWO.
Why singapore introduced several more ranks in 1992 is to be more fair and flexible to the regulars in recognition of their contirbution. Otherwise we would have an army of disgruntled WO or SSG who served many years but just few ranks above 3SG. -
Erm... is that who I think that is?Originally posted by Gordonator:my BMT Platoon Sergeant is a bo chup cannot-make-it fellow. talk about leading with pride. sigh. -
not 2SG Don, it's his successor 3SG Jamal. i'll rather have a garang PS then a slack, bo chup, couldn't care less PS like him.Originally posted by fudgester:Erm... is that who I think that is? -
Which is why matured reservists give face and cooperate with each other. We already know what is wayang all about .
NSFs who throw their weight around don't know what is good for them.
However i've seen some young 3rd sgts with the talents to teach and will do very well in the force.
Most of those who don't even put in effort are those who thinks their job is Iron rice bowls. For others who have done their homework will be rewarded with more than just respect from their students, but also from their superiors. -
The British Army ranks are Pte- LCpl -Cpl -Sgt -SSgt -WO2 -WO1. The senior WO2 in a Company is the CSM and the senior WO1 in a Regiment is the RSM.Originally posted by Ponders:In singapore.. it is really no choice but they got to go by this system. otherwise there's not enough people going around to fill in the NS units positions.
let's not talk about BMT platoon sergeants.... but unit PS "usually" have 2-4 years experience before taking on a PS role. While uncomparable to UK, they would have more exp than a newly post in PC in a mono-intake.
We cannot really use UK as an example. UK has very few ranks to rise up. they only have 7 NCO ranks. PTE->CPL->SGT->SSG and 3 grades of WO.
also note that WO overseas have VERY VERY different roles than in SIngapore.
e.g. There can be only 1 warrant officer first class in the entire army.
unlike singapore where there is 40+ SWO.
Why singapore introduced several more ranks in 1992 is to be more fair and flexible to the regulars in recognition of their contirbution. Otherwise we would have an army of disgruntled WO or SSG who served many years but just few ranks above 3SG.
The Australian Army has the same ranks, excluding SSgt and also has one senior WO position - RSM-A
I believe SG WOs have the same status as British/Australian WOs but fill a broader range of positions. British WOs also only serve up to 22 rather than 35 years and are not members of the Officers Mess. They are addressed as 'Sir' but not saluted (same as Singapore). -
realistically..it takes years for a SG regular to be a platoon sergeant.....some of my Instructors in SISPEC are in the army for 5 years plus and they still havent done their PS tour....
too much manpower....
u shouldnt follow the ARC website too closely...its a different case in real life... -
u have a prob with air level students ahOriginally posted by Marco_Simone:Especially those air levels ones very fu-cked up and blurred.Think fitness is everything...No leadership and man management skills at all.Sighzzz...
wahaha dun generalise leh. -
hrmm don from tekong? f coy ah... he used to me my ps loh.. super garang.. kaoz.Originally posted by Gordonator:not 2SG Don, it's his successor 3SG Jamal. i'll rather have a garang PS then a slack, bo chup, couldn't care less PS like him. -
Pls, let's not get started on stories of 2SG Don.
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given the realities in singapore, how then can we improve the exposure and experience levels of our platoon sergeants?
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Hey,I was an air level guy also.Originally posted by Altis84:u have a prob with air level students ah wahaha dun generalise leh.
Seems that the poly educated instructors are better in many ways than the air level ones.Less stuck up... -
last time all PS are regulars and they take much longer time to reach where they are compared to now.Originally posted by wuming78:given the realities in singapore, how then can we improve the exposure and experience levels of our platoon sergeants? -
I think we can dedicate one whole sticky on that.Originally posted by Cens:Pls, let's not get started on stories of 2SG Don. 
Anyway, let's get back to the thread, shall we?
Let's face it.... optimally the platoon sergeant ought to be the most experienced person of all in the platoon. If I'm not wrong, the average age of the PS in a US army platoon is about 28 or 29. Contrast this to the SAF - we can have pimply-faced 19 year olds as platoon sergeants.
Heck, in many cases the men end up being older than the PS.
There's nothing much we can do about this. We're a conscript army, and we don't have the sufficient manpower to allow the situation where the PS is a highly-experienced soldier in his late twenties who has seen it all. I guess the only thing we can do is to firm up the standards for the PS selection process and make sure that not any green soldier can become a PS.
Inevitably there will be some black sheep, and I've come across total jerks who think that the stripes on their sleeves entitle them to respect and fear from the masses. Nothing we can do about getting rid of jerks in the Army, but at least we can try to prevent some of them from getting stripes on their sleeves. -
ermm well we dun have a choice,, okie okie a level ps fuck up... but a level cpl rulez... wahhahaOriginally posted by Marco_Simone:Hey,I was an air level guy also.
Seems that the poly educated instructors are better in many ways than the air level ones.Less stuck up... -
I muz agree... My unit nsf officers all A level, u see they way they behave really stuck up. Its a mistake to give a 18, 19 yrs old kid such a high rank n high authority, they may not have the correct mind set how to handle that.Originally posted by Marco_Simone:Hey,I was an air level guy also.
Seems that the poly educated instructors are better in many ways than the air level ones.Less stuck up... -
Btw,I was an air level sergeant also,but I was not from SISPEC.I was a chao PTE and chao CPL for several months before I became 3SG so I could understand how enlistees feel and empathize with them.Unlike those stuck up people from the command schools.Get rank so fast without really seeing the worldOriginally posted by Ogbunwezeh:I muz agree... My unit nsf officers all A level, u see they way they behave really stuck up. Its a mistake to give a 18, 19 yrs old kid such a high rank n high authority, they may not have the correct mind set how to handle that. -
Tats the problem with SAF, think not enuf officers, no choice anyhow take. Anyway who suffer, also low rank nsf suffer.Originally posted by Marco_Simone:Btw,I was an air level sergeant also,but I was not from SISPEC.I was a chao PTE and chao CPL for several months before I became 3SG so I could understand how enlistees feel and empathize with them.Unlike those stuck up people from the command schools.Get rank so fast without really seeing the world