Frequently Asked Questions (Scholarship and Sponsorships)

A military profession is not for everyone. For those who are bold enough to take the leap of faith, they can expect grooming and developmental opportunities at every level in the SAF. In particular, recipients of The SAF Scholarship will be given the opportunity to serve Singapore and Singaporeans beyond the SAF through secondment opportunity to other public sector agencies if they perform well.

As The SAF Scholarship is jointly offered by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and MINDEF/SAF, you will be equipped with a myriad of leadership and managerial skills, and systematically groomed to assume key appointments within and beyond the SAF.

Applications for the 2025 scholarship cycle is currently open till 15 March 2025. You may submit your application for The SAF Scholarship via the PSC website at (https://www.psc.gov.sg/apply-for-scholarships). In your PSC Gateway application, under “Career and Course Preferences”, please indicate “Uniformed Services – Singapore Armed Forces” as your top career choice.

Specific to female applicants, you are strongly encouraged to concurrently apply for the SAF Merit Scholarship in order for MINDEF/SAF to assess your suitability and to facilitate your enlistment for Basic Military Training (BMT).

Shortlisted candidates have to undergo the PSC panel interview. The panel interview is usually held from January to May each year. Candidates who are found suitable by PSC would be offered The SAF Scholarship on a provisional basis and be referred to MINDEF/SAF for further assessment.

As we are looking for talent with the potential to assume key leadership positions in the SAF, we place emphasis on their military performance. As such, you must qualify for Officer Cadet School (OCS) based on your own merits as your performance during OCS will have a bearing on your suitability for the scholarship. The SAF Scholarship would be confirmed if you are found suitable by MINDEF/SAF during our selection board in May/June.

The selection board looks for candidates with leadership potential, good character, commitment to serve Singapore and Singaporeans, and a keen interest to pursue a challenging and fulfilling profession with MINDEF/SAF.

As we are looking for bright young talent to assume key leadership appointments in the SAF, you must perform well in BMT, and qualify for OCS. Failure to gain entry to OCS would be a veto criterion for the scholarship.

Applicants are required to be Singapore Citizens at point of application.

Yes, MINDEF/SAF benchmarks the results of such equivalent qualifications against that of the GCE ‘A’ levels.

The bond is six years and will take immediate effect after you graduate and return to service. Consistent with other scholarship awarding agencies where bond is imposed, the period of studies is not counted towards the fulfilment of the bond.

If you are not found suitable for The SAF Scholarship during MINDEF’s internal selection board, you may be considered for other PSC Scholarships, if offered by PSC. Depending on the circumstances, MINDEF/SAF may exercise the flexibility to offer other scholarships such as the SAF Merit Scholarship.

You are expected to apply for universities of your choice as admission is dependent on individual merit. You should also arrange to sit for the necessary pre-admission tests such as the SAT, where necessary.

You may request for an extension of the deadline on the basis that you are being considered for a scholarship and are pending an outcome. Many established universities are familiar with our scholarship selection process and are likely to consider an extension.

You may disrupt for studies upon completion of the Service Term in Officer Cadet School (OCS). As a guide, you may depart for studies in August/September if you are proceeding to US universities, and end September if you are proceeding to UK universities. If you choose to pursue your studies in other countries, your disruption date would commensurate with the course commencement date.

Yes, you are allowed to pursue a Master’s Degree in most disciplines (except Medicine, Dentistry and Architecture) if you meet the eligibility criteria and complete it within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can pursue a double major if you are able to complete your studies within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can choose the university and course of your study (with the exception of professional courses such as architecture, medicine, dentistry etc.). You may pursue a degree in Law. However, you will not be called to the Bar while serving in the SAF.

Currently, the SAF recalls our scholars during the summer vacation for attachments in SAF units as well as developmental programmes organised by PSC. Through this, you can keep updated with the developments in the SAF. Also, you will be assigned a mentor prior to graduation, who will be attached to you for several years upon your return from studies. You will be scheduled for route of advancement courses to prepare you to take up your respective appointments upon return.

Yes, you may indicate which Service you would like to join. Your suitability for the respective Service will be based on your individual merit.

As a The SAF Scholarship recipient, you will be put in appointments where you will be constantly challenged to apply your analytical skills and ground experience. Through various tours you will not only hone your skills as a leader, but also as a manager, a planner and a strategist. You will be equipped with valuable skill sets and strong leadership competencies to tackle myriad challenges such as organisational management, project management, competency development, people development, resource management, and incident management.

You can expect to contribute to long-term planning that determines MINDEF/SAF’s future development. You will also have the chance to represent MINDEF/SAF to work with officers from the other Ministries to formulate government policies at the national level. All in, the job nature is extremely challenging and offers a wide spectrum of variety.

The PSC Scholarship (Engineering) Defence & Security Cluster is offered to pre-tertiary students and undergraduates (as mid-term scholarship) who have a strong desire to pursue an engineering career in the Public Service, contributing to the defence of Singapore through serving in our Defence Technology Community (DTC) agencies. While the overarching objective is to build and strengthen the Public Service’s leadership pipelines in the engineering and technology sectors, candidates will being their journey with your parent agency within the DTC based on their preference and organisational needs. They can either be deployed to (a) Defence Science and Technology Agency if they are keen in a broad range of engineering disciplines as well as technology acquisition and project management; (b) DSO National Laboratories where they will be involved in deep research in cutting edge technology; or (c) Centre of Strategic Infocomm Technologies in which they will be involved in cyber-technology, software engineering and analytics and systems and network infrastructure.

The PSC Scholarship (Engineering) under D&S cluster develops and grooms individuals through dedicated developmental programmes by both PSC and your engineering parent agency, opportunities to work with experts in the field, and an exciting career which will develop into a leader in the engineering and technology domain while safeguarding the sovereignty of our country. You will also receive mentorship, including guidance on your career development. You will build your foundational expertise in your parent agency after which you will have the opportunities to be exposed to the other agencies within your cluster.

In comparision, the SAF Engineering Scholarship would appeal to those with the interest and commitment to join the Singapore Armed Forces as military engineers. You will be groomed as military leaders with a deep specialisation in engineering on the Military Domain Expert Scheme (MDES). You will assume a range of challenging appointments in MINDEF/SAF. In addition, there will be opportunities to be rotated to the Defence Technology Community (DTC) to augment the build-up of engineering expertise in the Defence-technology ecosystem.

Apply via the PSC website (https://www.psc.gov.sg/apply-for-scholarships). In your PSC Gateway application, under “Career and Course Preferences”, please indicate “Engineering (D&S)” as your top career choice. Your course of study should correspondingly be an engineering or related discipline.

Applications for the 2025 scholarship cycle is currently open till 15 March 2025. Candidates who are found suitable by PSC would be have to undergo another assessment by the parent agency of their choice before they are offered the PSC Scholarship (Engineering).

• For undergraduate study in English speaking countries: 6 years

• For undergraduate study in non-English speaking countries: 5 years

• For undergraduate study in Singapore: 4 years

The PSC Scholarship (Engineering) serves to develop and groom individuals for leadership positions in the engineering and technology sectors in the Public Service. While you will enjoy flexibility in choosing your course, university and country of study, your decisions should be relevant to the career. Hence, you will be required to read an engineering or related discipline which complements your career choice, matching your skills acquired in university to your job type.

MINDEF/Defence Technology Community will be happy to discuss with you on your preferred course of study.

Recipients under the PSC Scholarship (Engineering) will be required to read courses of study that complement their career choices. Some examples (non-exhaustive) of supported courses for the D&S cluster are:

• Aerospace / Aeronautical Engineering
• Architecture
• Artificial Intelligence
• Behavioural Science
• Business / Data Analytics
• Civil Engineering
• Cognitive Science
• Computer Science / Engineering
• Computing
• Cyber Security
• Electrical and/or Electronic Engineering
• Engineering
• Engineering in Product Development
• Engineering Science
• Geospatial Technology
• Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Information Engineering / Security
• Information Systems & Communications Technology/Design
• Information Technology
• Marine Engineering
• Mathematics / Statistics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Naval Architecture
• Physics
• Robotics
• Systems Egineering

During studies, you will be jointly managed and engaged by the PSC Secretariat and MINDEF Scholarship Centre including internships and deployment within the D&S cluster. Upon graduation, your career will be managed by the Leadership Development department of Public Service Division in partnership with MINDEF Human Resource Department.

The D&S cluster looks at the design, operation and maintenance of our national security infrastructure. The Defence Technology Community agencies under the D&S cluster include Defence Science & Technology Agency, DSO National Laboratories and Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies.

Upon graduation, you will spend your initial years building your technical foundation with your parent agency. Thereafter, you will be deployed to rest of DTC to to deepen your engineering expertise.

Within DTC, you will have a personalised career development plan, which will allow you to plan your career goals that best match your personal aspirations, experiences and competencies. Through attending foundation and milestone courses, you may build competencies in various technology areas which would prepare you to take on higher appointments. There are also opportunities for job rotations across different agencies such as the Defence Science & Technology Agency, DSO National Laboratories and Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies.

Yes. Similar to other PSC Scholarship recipients, it is subject to the scholarship recipients meeting the emplacement criteria (including academic requirements) for the PSLP. As the PSC Scholarship (Engineering) offers a specialised engineering career proposition, upon graduation, PSC Scholarship (Engineering) recipients will be placed on the PSLP (General Phase – Engineering). This is a specialised track within PSLP (General Phase).

The SAF Merit Scholarship is a top tier military scholarship offered by MINDEF/SAF. The SAF Scholarship, on the other hand, is jointly offered by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and MINDEF/SAF. Applicants of The SAF Scholarship will go through PSC’s selection process, and suitable candidates will be referred to MINDEF/SAF for further assessment.

Both scholarships will equip you with a world-class education and provide many opportunities to hone your skills as a leader, manager and strategist. You will be trained to meet the challenges of the new security environment and to lead your people to fulfil the mission. You will serve Singapore and Singaporeans, and shape the lives of those you work with, as well as the future of the SAF. Most importantly, you will play a critical role in defending our sovereignty and way of life.

For Males: Applications for the 2025 scholarship cycle have been opened since 1 August 2024, and will close on 30 April 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an interview to assess your suitability for the scholarship after being commissioned as an officer.

For Females: Applications for the 2026 scholarship open on 1 April 2025, and close on 31 August 2025. You are strongly encouraged to apply in the final year of your studies, as successful candidates (offered the scholarship provisionally) are required to go through Basic Military Training (BMT) in January. There will be up to three rounds of interviews. (1) The first round of interview will be held in September/October to assess your suitability for the scholarship. Successful candidates will be offered the scholarship on a provisional basis before enlisting for BMT the following year. (2) Selected candidates may be requested to attend a second round of interview to assess their fit for the military and assess their academic performance. (3) The final round of interview will in June to assess your military performance in OCS, before your scholarship is confirmed.

You may submit your scholarship application at https://go.gov.sg/mindef-saf-scholarship.

The selection board looks for candidates with leadership potential, sound character, commitment to serve Singapore and Singaporeans, and a keen interest to pursue a challenging and fulfilling profession with MINDEF/SAF.

As we are looking for bright young talent to take up top leadership appointments in the SAF, you must perform well in BMT, and qualify for OCS. Failure to gain entry to OCS would be a veto criterion for the scholarship.

Yes, PRs who will take up Singapore Citizenship can apply for the scholarship. They should be Singapore Citizens should they be successful to be awarded the scholarship.

Yes, MINDEF/SAF benchmarks the results of such equivalent qualifications against that of the GCE ‘A’ levels.

The bond is six years and will take immediate effect after you graduate and return to service. Consistent with other scholarship awarding agencies where bond is imposed, the period of studies is not counted towards the fulfilment of the bond.

You are expected to apply for universities of your choice as admission is dependent on individual merit. You should also arrange to sit for the necessary pre-admission tests such as the SAT, where necessary.

You may request for an extension of the deadline on the basis that you are being considered for a scholarship and are pending an outcome. Many established universities are familiar with our scholarship selection process and are likely to consider an extension.

For Males: You will be eligible to disrupt for studies upon being commissioned as an officer.

For Females: You may disrupt for studies in the same year as your female counterparts who did not enlist, upon completion of your Service Term in Officer Cadet School (OCS). You will then return to complete your OCS Professional Term after completion of your studies. Alternatively, you may choose to complete your full OCS training before departing for studies.

As a guide, you may depart for studies in August/September if you are proceeding to US universities, and end September if you are proceeding to UK universities. If you choose to pursue your studies in other countries, your disruption date would commensurate with the course commencement date.

Yes, you are allowed to pursue a Master’s Degree in most disciplines (except Medicine, Dentistry and Architecture) if you meet the eligibility criteria and complete it within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can pursue a double major if you are able to complete your studies within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can choose the university and course of your study (with the exception of professional courses such as architecture, medicine, dentistry etc.). You may pursue a degree in Law. However, you will not be called to the Bar while serving in the SAF.

Currently, the SAF recalls our scholars during the summer vacation for attachments in SAF units as well as developmental programmes organised by PSC. Through this, you can keep updated with the developments in the SAF. Also, you will be assigned a mentor prior to graduation, who will be attached to you for several years upon your return from studies. You will be scheduled for route of advancement courses to prepare you to take up your respective appointments upon return.

For females, you may indicate which Service you would like to join, while for the males, you will carry on in the Service that as you have already been commissioned in.

As a SAF Merit Scholarship recipient, you will be put in appointments where you will be constantly challenged to apply your analytical skills and ground experience. Through various tours you will not only hone your skills as a leader, but also as a manager, a planner and a strategist. You will be equipped with valuable skill sets and strong leadership competencies to tackle myriad challenges such as organisational management, project management, competency development, people development, resource management, and incident management.

You can expect to contribute to long-term planning that determines MINDEF/SAF’s future development. You will also have the chance to represent MINDEF/SAF to work with officers from the other Ministries to formulate government policies at the national level. All in, the job nature is extremely challenging and offers a wide spectrum of variety.

No, the SAF Engineering Scholarship is a top-tier scholarship awarded by MINDEF/SAF to attract talent to join the SAF as military engineers on the Military Domain Expert Scheme (MDES).

The SAF Scholarship [uniformed] and the PSC Scholarship (Engineering) [non-uniformed] are the ones awarded by PSC.

SAF Engineering Scholarship: For engineers with the interest and commitment to join the Singapore Armed Forces as military engineers. You will be groomed as military leaders with a deep specialisation in engineering on the Military Domain Expert Scheme (MDES). You will assume a range of challenging appointments in MINDEF/SAF. In addition, there will be opportunities to be rotated to the Defence Technology Community (DTC) to augment the build-up of engineering expertise in the Defence-technology ecosystem.

PSC Scholarship (Engineering) – Defence & Security: Offered by Public Service Commission (PSC) for pre-tertiary students and undergraduates (as mid-term scholarship) keen on an engineering career in the Public Service. You can find out more about it here.

DSTA Scholarship: For budding engineers and scientists with leadership qualities who are passionate about Defence Science and Technology. Upon graduation you will embark on your career at the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and DSO National Laboratories.

For Males: Applications for the 2025 scholarship cycle have been opened since 1 August 2024, and will close on 30 April 2025. Should you be shortlisted, you will be called up for the Selection Board between Jan to May for the SAF Engineering Scholarship.

For Females: Applications for the 2026 scholarship open on 1 April 2025, and close on 31 August 2025. You are strongly encouraged to apply in the final year of your studies, as successful candidates (offered the scholarship provisionally) are required to go through Basic Military Training (BMT) in January. There will be up to three rounds of interviews. (1) The first round of interview will be held in September/October to assess your suitability for the scholarship. Successful candidates will be offered the scholarship on a provisional basis before enlisting for BMT the following year. (2) Selected candidates may be requested to attend a second round of interview to assess their fit for the military and assess their academic performance. (3) The final round of interview will in June to assess your military performance in OCS, before your scholarship is confirmed.

You may submit your scholarship application at https://go.gov.sg/mindef-saf-scholarship.

The selection board looks for candidates with leadership potential, good character, commitment to serve Singapore and Singaporeans, and a keen interest to pursue a challenging and fulfilling profession with MINDEF/SAF.

As we are looking for bright young talent to take up top leadership appointments in the SAF, you must perform well in BMT, and qualify for OCS. Failure to gain entry to OCS would be a veto criterion for the scholarship.

Yes, PRs who will take up Singapore Citizenship can apply for the scholarship. They should be Singapore Citizens should they be successful to be awarded the scholarship.

Yes, MINDEF/SAF benchmarks the results of such equivalent qualifications against that of the GCE ‘A’ levels.

The bond is six years and will take immediate effect after you graduate and return to service. Consistent with other scholarship awarding agencies where bond is imposed, the period of studies is not counted towards the fulfilment of the bond.

You are expected to apply for universities of your choice as admission is dependent on individual merit. You should also arrange to sit for the necessary pre-admission tests such as the SAT, where necessary.

You may request for an extension of the deadline on the basis that you are being considered for a scholarship and are pending an outcome. Many established universities are familiar with our scholarship selection process and are likely to consider an extension.

You may disrupt for studies within the first year of enlistment, after completing the common leadership training. This is to allow you to contribute as military engineers as early as possible after acquiring the requisite engineering knowledge and skills from your tertiary education.

As a guide, you may depart for studies in August/September if you are proceeding to US universities, and end September if you are proceeding to UK universities. If you choose to pursue your studies in other countries, your disruption date would commensurate with the course commencement date.

Yes, you are allowed to pursue a Master’s Degree in most disciplines (except Medicine, Dentistry and Architecture) if you meet the eligibility criteria and complete it within the stipulated study period of four years. You can pursue a double major if you are able to complete your studies within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can choose the university and course of study. However, as this is a military engineering scholarship, you will need to choose a course of study that is relevant to your Service and vocation. Some common courses our SAF Engineering Scholarship recipients pursue are:

• Aeronautical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical & Electronic, Marine, Mechanical Engineering

• Computer Science

• Material Science

• Mathematics

• Naval Architecture

• Physics

Currently, the SAF recalls our scholars during the summer vacation for attachments in SAF units. Through this, you can keep updated with the developments in the SAF. Also, you will be assigned a mentor prior to graduation, who will be attached to you for several years upon your return from studies. You will be scheduled for route of advancement courses to prepare you to take up your respective appointments upon return.

Yes, you may indicate which Service you would like to join. Your suitability for the respective Service will be based on your individual merit.

The MDES is a uniformed service scheme for SAF regulars, designed to allow Military Experts (MEs) to develop deep expertise and specialisation in key military domains like engineering and intelligence. As military personnel, MEs will continue to bear arms and be deployed in operational roles when required. MEs can enjoy a full career up to age 60.

An SAF Engineer is both an SAF officer and a military engineer expert by profession. As leaders to the engineering and technical workforce, SAF engineers are directly responsible for their performance and contributions towards sharpening and sustaining the cutting edge technologies applied in the SAF.

The unique operational-technical experiences that our SAF engineers acquire when they are deployed in SAF missions would provide them the essential competence to conceptualise and bring to bear robust engineering and logistics support solutions for the SAF’s varying range and scale of complex operations such as Humanitarian Relief Missions and multi-national military exercises. They will have a significant and meaningful role to play as the technological leaders in the SAF to drive the development and assure the highest state of operational effectiveness for the diverse range of the SAF’s land, naval, air assets, including our secret edge capabilities.

There will be many unique opportunities for you to develop professionally through job rotations, thereby stretching your potential to the fullest. These opportunities include command appointments (leadership focused) such as base commands, as well as engineering specialist appointments (engineering expertise focused) where you will anchor a specific deep engineering domain expertise.

Other than career development through the job rotations and operational deployments, you will also go through various engineering and military leadership courses both locally and overseas at specific points in your career to hone and deepen your engineering application knowledge to prepare you for higher leadership appointments.

On top of this, there may be opportunities to be exposed to platform acquisition project management in Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) or research and development work in DSO National Laboratories. These unique opportunities provide our engineers with a wide exposure of defence science and technology work in MINDEF/ SAF.

The Defence Merit Scholarship is a prestigious scholarship offered by the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) for non-uniformed appointments in the organisation. Recipients will enjoy a highly rewarding and challenging career as a Defence Executive Officer (DXO) within MINDEF.

As a DXO, you will play a strategic role in the defence and security of Singapore. You will have opportunities to be involved in defence diplomacy to shape defence policies, or strengthen cyber resilience within the Defence Cyber Organisation. In communications, you will oversee MINDEF-wide public communications and public relations efforts to strengthen public trust in MINDEF and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). You can also explore strategic resource management, where you will plan and manage manpower, finance and other resources, or join the Manpower Division to develop and review policies for our servicemen.

You will serve Singapore and Singaporeans, and shape the lives of fellow Singaporeans as well as partake in designing the future of the SAF. You will play a critical role in defending our sovereignty and way of life.

Applications for the 2025 scholarship cycle have been opened since 1 August 2024, and will close on 30 April 2025. Shortlisted candidates have to undergo two rounds of interview – (1) selection board; and (2) the review board. The panel interviews are usually held from March to May each year. Candidates who are found suitable by MINDEF at the review board would be offered the Defence Merit Scholarship.

You may submit your scholarship application at https://go.gov.sg/mindef-saf-scholarship.

The selection board looks for candidates who are authentic with good character, passionate about contributing to the defence of Singapore and committed to serve Singaporeans through a challenging and fulfilling profession with MINDEF/SAF.

Yes, PRs who will take up Singapore Citizenship can apply for the scholarship. They should be Singapore Citizens should they be successful to be awarded the scholarship.

Yes, MINDEF benchmarks the results of such equivalent qualifications against that of the GCE ‘A’ levels.

The bond is six years for overseas studies and four years for local studies. It will take immediate effect after you graduate and commence work in MINDEF. Consistent with other scholarship awarding agencies where a bond is imposed, the period of studies is not counted towards the fulfilment of the bond.

For male DMS recipients, a period of your National Service will be counted towards the fulfilment of the bond. The duration counted will be five or ten months, depending on the period of service, and subject to a minimum effective bond period of three and a half years in Service. This is to ensure that there would be sufficient length of time for recipients to gain exposure within MINDEF and for job assessment.

You are expected to apply for universities of your choice as admission is dependent on individual merit. You should also arrange to sit for the necessary pre-admission tests such as the SAT, where necessary.

You may request for an extension of the deadline on the basis that you are being considered for a scholarship and are pending an outcome. Many established universities are familiar with our scholarship selection process and are likely to consider an extension.

All male DMS recipients must complete their full-time National Service (NS) before they proceed for studies. Female DMS recipients may proceed for studies in the year they are awarded the DMS.

As a guide, you may depart for studies in August/September if you are proceeding to US universities, and end September if you are proceeding to UK universities. If you choose to pursue your studies in other countries, your departure date would commensurate with the course commencement date.

*Option for NS disruption on a case-by-case basis

Yes, you are allowed to pursue a Master’s Degree in most disciplines (except Medicine, Dentistry and Architecture) if you meet the eligibility criteria and complete it within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can pursue a double major if you are able to complete your studies within the stipulated study period of four years.

You can choose the university and course of your study (with the exception of professional courses such as architecture, medicine, dentistry etc.). You may pursue a degree in Law. However, you will not be called to the Bar while serving in MINDEF.

Yes, DMS recipients are required to return for at least one internship during their vacation period. You will be exposed to the operations of MINDEF and given the opportunity to interact with other Defence Executive Officers (DXOs) and learn from their experiences during the internship. Some of the areas we deploy our DMS recipients during their internship include Defence Relations, Finance, Human Resource, National Education or MINDEF systems, for a period of at least 8 weeks. You may also request to intern with external organisations, however these requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

MINDEF is akin to a “mini civil service” offering a variety of jobs in areas such as Defence Relations, Human Resource, Finance, National Education, Cyber Defence, Communications and Policy Formulation. Upon graduation, you can look forward to the opportunity of working in the afore-mentioned areas.

You can state your preferences prior to joining MINDEF. However, your actual deployment would depend on the availability of positions of your choice in the organisation, as well as the organisation’s needs.

Nonetheless, you will be rotated to various areas of work throughout your career in MINDEF. This will broaden your horizon, give you more exposure and prepare you for greater challenges in the long run.

As you will be under the DXO scheme of service, the priority will be to groom you for senior management positions within MINDEF. To do so, it will be important to give you the breadth of exposure through internal postings within MINDEF. Given the size of MINDEF and the variety of jobs that we can offer, internal posting within MINDEF will be as challenging and varied as any inter-Ministry posting. Other than the diverse skills and competencies built from your varied postings, you will also build up generic competencies like problem solving, communication skills, leadership, organisational acumen, etc.

Where opportune, DXOs who have performed exceptionally well and have shown potential may be considered for the Public Service Leadership Programme, where they may look forward to inter-agency postings which will support their career development.

As a DMS recipient, you will be contributing in policy formulation and playing a strategic role in the defence of Singapore. You will not be directly involved in military training and operations.

As you are applying for a military scholarship, it is mandatory for you to undergo military training in order for us to assess your suitability as military leader. At the same time, we recognise that serving in the military is a path less trodden.

During BMT, you will be training with other female trainees. You will be equipped with basic soldiering skills and can expect to go through key events such as field camp, grenade throwing, urban operations to name a few. You will also be trained physically and inculcated with a sense of military discipline.

Training would be tough but you would develop resilience and fitness through endurance and physical training exercises so that you can cope with the training both physically and mentally. With a positive mind set and strong bonds forged with your platoon mates, you will be able to pull through the training and excel in BMT.

During officer cadet training, you will pick up knowledge of military management and be given the opportunity to hone your leadership skills and capability as a commander.

We recognise that joining the SAF is a big leap from your civilian life, and everyone will start off with differing fitness levels. As such, the SAF adopts a progressive training approach to level everyone up to the requisite fitness level. With a positive mind-set, good teamwork and the bonds forged with your platoon mates, we are certain that it will help you pull through the training and excel in BMT.

Entry into OCS is based on numerous considerations such as organisational requirements, your military performance, your commanders’ recommendations, education qualifications and medical fitness.