209 Officers Graduate from Command and Staff Course

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen interacting with graduands and their spouses at the Combined Graduation Ceremony for the 44th Command and Staff Course (CSC), 14th CSC (National Service) and 2nd CSC (Executive).

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen presented certificates to 209 graduands at the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College (GKS CSC) Combined 44th Command and Staff Course (CSC), 14th CSC (National Service) and 2nd CSC (Executive) Graduation Ceremony held this evening at the Istana. The graduands comprised 149 regular officers and 45 National Service (NS) officers from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), one officer from the Singapore Police Force and 14 international officers from 12 countries - Australia, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

While emphasising the importance of international collaboration during his speech at the graduation ceremony, Dr Ng announced that the Republic of Singapore Navy will be sending its fifth task group comprising a Frigate and a Naval Helicopter to the Gulf of Aden in 2014 to support the multi-national counter-piracy efforts by Combined Task Force 151. Speaking to the graduands, Dr Ng also highlighted the importance of continuing education and leadership development. Dr Ng revealed the collaboration with Workforce Development Authority (WDA) to award GKS CSC graduands with the Graduate Diploma in Organisational Leadership. He said, "This is something that provides a leadership development roadmap for business and strategic leaders at the CEO and Divisional Director levels. And I think this is a good initiative to ensure that competencies developed in our military officers are also relevant and valued in the public and private sectors."

Dr Ng also presented awards to five top graduands: Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Tan Kok Eng, LTC Teo Soo Yeow and Military Expert 6 Khoo Koh Giok, who won the Top Army, Air Force and Navy Graduate Awards respectively in the 44th CSC, as well as to Major (NS) Lee Chee Chow Roysten and LTC Goh Puay Hock Francis who topped the 14th CSC (National Service) and 2nd CSC (Executive) respectively. The CSC, CSC (Executive) and CSC (National Service) prepare officers for senior command and staff appointments in the SAF; and are the highest level of formal military education offered in Singapore for regular and NS officers.

Dr Ng presenting the top Army graduate award to LTC Tan Kok Eng during the presentation ceremony held at the Istana.

More Resources

Speech by Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen, at 44th Command and Staff Course (CSC), 14th CSC (NS) and 2nd CSC (E) Graduation Ceremony