Some random thoughts about a SG 'West Point'
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This just comes to my mind after reading through the recent SG govt decision to cut NSF period for 6 months for A level/Dip holders.
Do you think it is feasible for Singapore to adopt a West Point (US military academy) style of studies/commission for its regular/scholar officer corps?
Currently, regulars become SAF officers through the following schemes:
1. Sign on upon enlistment. Go through the standard OCS and begin military career after that.
2. Take up one of the many different SAF scholarship schemes. Disrupt military service for studies according to his/her scholarship scheme. Resume training in OCS if he/she had not completed the 42 week course prior to disruption.
Won't it be better if the SAF can group together its regulars and scholars to one military cum educational institution?
So these people will spend four years studying and training in a military academy, and obtain a bachelors degree with a 2LT commission after four years. Two semesters of study per year, with the mid-year break (~3 months) reserved for OCS style training. There can be even a student exchange with overseas institutions in a regular semester or two.
Academics can easily be drawn or 'borrowed' from NUS/NTU/SMU to teach some of the courses.
The SG govt will pay for their university education, and in return they will serve the usual bond of 6 years.
Assuming there are about 40-50 SAF scholars per year, with regulars who aren't, this will give a total annual intake of about 100 for this institution? You might argue that the small numbers don't justify the setting up of such a institution, but I can think of the distance learning degree courses in Singapore, where they usually have small number of students per course. And here in the US, some of the most elite universities/colleges have an entering class in the few hundreds. For example, Caltech has a total undergraduate population of around 900, yet it is one of the best engineering schools in the US. Another case would be Cooper Union in NYC, a top-notch undergrad engineering school also with a total undergrad population of 900. For non-engineering schools, there are those LACs (liberal arts colleges) such as Amherst, Smith, Swarthmore etc.
NSFs selected for OCS will go through the usual 'compressed' training period of 42 weeks.
This would also abolish the class differences amongst the SAF scholars and non-scholar regulars. As is always been mentioned in the PSC scholarship literature, SAFOS is at the top of the pecking order, followed by the MS holders, ATAs and LSAs etc. This would also allow those A level and poly regular officers a chance of a university education. The distinction between 'scholars' and 'farmers' in the organization would be removed, since all the regulars would graduate from the same institution. -
mil cum academic institution in spore? dont think it will have a sufficiently large mkt.
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Wasn't this issue discussed in Speaker's Corner before?
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Aiyah...still got stereotyping one...
Hmph. Unless u as a 'farmer' do really really excellent....but seldom do u get the chance to.