Keynote Address by Minister For Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen, at the 2012 SAF Learning Symposium, SAFTI-MI Warriors Hall

Chief of Defence Force and Chief of Navy,
Senior Commanders,
Distinguished guests,

The inaugural SAF Learning Symposium 2012 is held amid deep and rapid changes within the SAF. This transformation of the SAF is driven by a number of concurrent factors. We often use the expression 3G transformation which encapsulates the concept that seeks to modernise our military capabilities including doctrines, capabilities and concept of operations. The 3G transformation has required, at the joint level and across the services, a fundamental re-organisation of command structures and lines of reporting. Not only has the hierarchy been flattened, it is also spread out with hubs and spokes. The second transformative driver is our people. A new and different generation will form the SAF now and in years to come. Many of you will remember that before I came to MINDEF I was at MOE, a minister there, as well as second minister in MINDEF. We know what the environment in schools is, many of you have children and sometimes you visit their schools, you help them with their homework, you know what their learning environment is. It will be a generation that has grown up in schools learning in IT embedded systems and interactive pedagogies that not only foster but indeed encourage inquiry, innovation and experimentation. So we visit our schools, many of them have what they call a learning room, it's a room where there are less walls, if you look at the sides, there are these screens and one school was very innovative they used the WII technology where you play games and it allows interactive information and that's what they do day in and day out, that's their environment and then they come to the SAF.

As commanders, you should already be seized by the following questions. What will the impact of these two factors combined - the 3G transformation driven by modern technology and platforms and a new generation with enhanced capabilities and different learning norms - what will the impact of these two factors be on the ability of your units under your charge to function optimally? Is the SAF ready for this new generation? Have you and how can you maximise the contributions from the men and women under your command? Do your current processes and SOPs facilitate or hinder their contributions? What is your relevance as a commander and how do you lead this organisational change?

Peter Senge from MIT views a learning organisation as one "where people continually expand their capacity to create what they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together". Is your unit such an organisation or is it one that responds predominantly to hierarchy and procedures? Make no mistake - the change that is underway will require all of us as commanders to step out of our comfort zones and learn new ways to lead from the front and effect organisational change. This is the reason why the SAF is organising the Learning Symposium, it's not because our calendar doesn't have enough activities; we are packed with activities. We're not just organising one more activity; this is a very important event.

I have said previously that the SAF and MINDEF should aspire to be organisations like Google, GE and IBM who are renowned for their ability to bring out the best of their employees. We should emulate these organisations and distinguish ourselves through our people as the source of our competitive advantage. We must maximise their potential in order to build a strong and capable military force.

An adaptive and strong learning culture is required in the SAF because we now operate in a complex and evolving security landscape. Not only has the scope of operations been expanded to include OOTW such as Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief missions or multinational peace support operations, but each operation is likely to have ambiguous parameters. Consider our previous operations whether it is after the Indian Ocean Tsunami or current operations in Afghanistan and the Gulf of Aden. Commanders and soldiers there will have to deal with uncertain conditions related to terrain. In Afghanistan, for those of you who have been there - high terrain, dessert, extremes of temperature, different geography; Gulf of Aden off Somalia; and the Indian Ocean Tsunami when we went there the coast lines were virtually altered the maps were irrelevant because the tsunami had altered the coastlines, for each operation there are likely to have biggest parameters you're dealing with people of different culture, many and often you will have unclear mission outcomes. It is unlikely for the SAF to come out with an SOP that covers every contingency in these circumstances. Indeed, our people must be well equipped with the necessary skill sets to rapidly sense-make, learn and adapt to the complexities of this operating environment. This can only be possible with a strong learning culture that allows us to distil lessons learnt from within and outside the organisation.

Second, in the technologically advanced 3rd Generation SAF, our people are required to operate complex systems and platforms for example our Archer submarines, F-15SGs, Leopard Tanks and C4I networks. We will need to leverage on advanced training pedagogies to make training more efficient and effective for our servicemen. Third, the demographic profile of our servicemen is changing. We will have less of them and therefore more will be required of each serviceman. We need to optimise their contributions of the present generation of soldiers born and raised in an age where communication and knowledge-sharing are norms for learning are different. To achieve this, we must create a technology-enabled environment that can enhance their capacity to learn.

Fourth, advancements in info-comm technologies allow us to drive new learning pedagogies. The relative affordability of mobile computing devices as well as the growth of social networking and collaborative technologies offer new and efficient means of self-directed learning.

The set up of LEARNet undergirds these initiatives to allow our soldiers to access online training content for self-directed learning. In 2009, LEARNet was implemented as a pilot programme at four SAF training institutes - BMTC, SCS, OCS and the Signal Institute. Since then, we have received much positive feedback. One significant benefit of LEARNet is the reduction of time spent in classroom teaching. We have reduced formal classroom time by 10%, but are able to teach 30% more syllabi to our cadets. We are now able to delve into more complex content in a shorter span of time. This is especially important, so that we can reinvest the time saved on rigorous and realistic outfield training for our soldiers.

I am happy to say that the impact of LEARNet is being recognised internationally as well. In 2011, the SAF was awarded Asia's Most Admired Knowledge Entreprise Award at the World Knowledge Forum for the LEARNet initiative. This award bears testament to the success of the SAF's learning transformation journey thus far. It also shows our firm commitment to be a world-class learning organisation.

This year's inaugural SAF Learning Symposium marks an important milestone in our learning transformation journey. The theme "Learning SAF, Thinking Warriors" embodies the envisaged end state of this transformation journey. A Greek philosopher (Thuycidides) once said, "The nation that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools". We want neither and therefore, the SAF's aim is to produce in every soldier a Thinker -Warrior.

I would like to extend my appreciation to our overseas and local lecturers who will be speaking over the course of the Symposium. Each of you come from renowned learning organisations that have deep expertise in the fields of education and pedagogy. We look forward to your valuable insights over these two days.

I wish all of you a very fruitful and learning symposium. Thank you.

More Resources

• SAF Learning Symposium 2012 - Learning SAF, Thinking Warriors

• Fact Sheet: SAF Learning Transformation

• Fact Sheet: LEARNet

• SAF holds inaugural Learning Symposium