Singapore Armed Forces adds a new rank for Officers - Senior Lieutenant-Colonel

[Parachutist]

Senior Lt-Col
Starting next July, moving to this rank will be a necessary step before promotion to Colonel By Jermyn Chow


The insignia for the new Senior Lieutenant-Colonel rank will be two SAF crests and a braid. -- PHOTO: MINDEF




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.'
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.'

[Wildgoose]

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.

Yeah, in the States we call them Warrant Officers.

[Plastic]

the SAF do have warrant officers..only the fact that they are non commissioned officers

[muck]

Didn't the Warsaw Pact armies have that rank, too?

Anyways, that's not too odd at all. Some other militaries created comparable ranks for their respective career pathes (officers, staff officers and so on). In Germany we know a "Staff Captain" which is senior to an (OF-2) Captain, but subordinate to a Major. In Belgium, they've got themselves a rank called "Commanding Captain".

[Clockwinder]

Didn't the US Army have "Technical" ranks in WW II, that had no direct supervision or squad responsibilities?

[Linedoggie]

Originally Posted by Clockwinder

Didn't the US Army have "Technical" ranks in WW II, that had no direct supervision or squad responsibilities?

Enlisted Only, and they were everything from T/5 Machinegunners to T/3 Photo interpreters, etc.
And an infantry unit in combat would definitley use them in Grade when needed.