(A) Minister for Defence Award (MDA) & MDA (Innovation)

The Minister for Defence Award (MDA) is given to the top MINDEF/SAF unit or department that has excelled in all components of the PRIDE Movement, namely productivity and innovation, organisational excellence, resource optimisation and staff well-being. The MDA (Innovation) is given to the best unit or department that has developed and implemented innovative projects with significant impact while nurturing the outstanding qualities of its people.

This year, the Force Readiness Squadron (FRS) of the Republic of Singapore Navy clinched both the MDA and the MDA (Innovation), and the Maintenance & Engineering Support (MES) Formation of the Singapore Army clinched the MDA.

FRS

For FRS, being recognised as the MDA and MDA (Innovation) winner for two consecutive years is a product of the unit's consistent efforts in working towards the highest levels of professionalism and innovation, coupled with the motto of "doing things better, doing better things". FRS's commitment to innovation is shown by the formation of the FRS InnTeam, which is made up of FRS champions who are passionate about innovation. Through coaching and guidance, these champions help WITS teams develop and complete their innovation projects. They also organise various innovation-related events and activities to nurture the innovation culture in FRS.

MES

The MES provides maintenance support for a wide range of platforms, and credits two main factors for its current levels of excellence; (i) An open environment that encourages servicemen to come up with new ideas and ways to improve existing processes, and (ii) a customer-oriented attitude that caters to their clients as best as they can. This allows the formation to achieve a high level of equipment readiness to support the SAF's operations. 

 

(B) MDA (Organisational Excellence) [MDA (OE)]

The MDA (OE) is conferred to the top MINDEF/SAF unit or organisation which has excelled for the past year in various aspects of their management processes and organisational systems.

This year, the award goes to two units, 6th Army Maintenance Base (6 AMB) and Ordnance Engineering Training Institute (OETI).

6 AMB

6 AMB serves a wide range of customers, primarily the Artillery, Signals and Intelligence Units. Each personnel in 6 AMB is enabled and empowered to make decisions on the ground, which imbues a sense of pride and responsibility in achieving excellence and contributes towards continuous improvements in their CORE (Customer-Oriented, Resource prudent and Engineering-related) processes. Together with its partners, 6 AMB has produced a constant stream of innovations that helped generate good operational results, some of which has been adopted by other organisations.

OETI

The leadership in OETI believes in "people-centric leadership", where it leads with the requisite technical knowledge and strong communication and people engagement. This contributes to a strong esprit de corps and a cohesive OETI family which takes pride in excellence. This allows for open communication and feedback, leading to improvements in training pedagogies, technologies and facilities for trainees.

 

(C) MINDEF Innovation Project Award & the Savings And Value Enhancement (SAVE) Award

The MINDEF Innovation Project Award is conferred on project teams who have produced impactful and innovative projects. The Savings And Value Enhancement (SAVE) Award is conferred every year to the best Economy Drive (ED) project team in recognition of their outstanding ED efforts. 

This year, both awards go to the Multi-Mission Range Complex (MMRC) project by Headquarters, 9th Division.

MMRC

The MMRC is an integrated range complex that comprises Multi-Tier and Urban Operations ranges. It allows for different scenario-based training, as well as simulating day and night shooting environments,  enhancing training realism and effectiveness while allowing for significant time savings. In addition, having a centralised facility eases the administration, planning and management of range trainings and enables greater security of the weapons and ammunition issued for trainings.

The Programme Management Team (PMT) formed jointly by the Army and DSTA came up with a more effective procurement strategy that secured a saving of $25million, and may be applied to any complex acquisitions in the future.

 

(D) MINDEF Star Service Award

The MINDEF Star Service Award (MSSA) recognises personnel who excel in their areas of responsibility and render excellent service by going the extra mile for service. The award will be presented to a total of 6 service personnel this year.

1) CPT Nigel Jevan Mathiaz, Officer Commanding, Basic Military Training (BMT) Centre School 4, Army

CPT Nigel established the Parent Engagement programme, which sends parents weekly email updates that are first-hand accounts of their sons' BMT progress.

"Thank you for keeping us updated on our son's progress through BMT. Each week, we look forward to reading about all the trials, challenges and achievements that my son and his mates have experienced." - Mother of a Recruit

 

2) ME5 Mark Teo Koon Guan, Officer Commanding, Maintenance Control Flight, 808 SQN, Air Power Generation Command (APGC), RSAF

ME5 Teo went the extra mile to provide technical assistance to the French and Australian aircraft at the Singapore Air Show. Despite short notice, ME5 Teo was able to help the aircraft refill their oxygen supply before departure.

"Mark's dedication and commitment to the highest level of work standards in highly commendable and is indeed an asset to the squadron." - LTC Randy Ong Kai Sin, Commander Changi Air Base, APGC.

 

3) Ms Rachel Teo Wen Wen, Admin Executive Officer, Naval Logistics Department (NLD), RSN

Ms Teo introduced an interactive SMS system that streamlined the process of compiling the parade state, which reflects the daily attendance of the personnel in her department. As a result, she improved the unit's efficiency and saved a significant amount of time and man-hours.

"This is a good example of receiving feedback from the ground and striving to improve the situation in the quickest time possible." - ME5 Ang Chee Leong, former Head Materials Planning Branch 1, NLD

 

4) Mr Lai Han Seng, Senior Map Specialist, SAF Mapping Unit, Joint Staff

Mr Lai created a new ISG website that makes it easy and convenient for all ISG personnel to log on and access the necessary information that they need.

"Han Seng, you are managing the website communication very well. I appreciate the initiatives you have taken." - ME6 Victor Yeo, former Head Geographic information Systems Centre

 

5) Ms May Ang Hwee Mei, Public Relations Officer, MINDEF Public Affairs

A team player, Ms Ang introduced improvements to the registration process for guests at events. Not only did these changes shorten the guest registration process, but it also created a pleasant experience for guests. 

"I enjoyed every part of the visit, which was very well organised. Excellent!" - Participant who visited NDU 

 

6) Ms Janelle Kang, Lead Associate, SAVER-Premium Fund Department, Defence Finance Organisation

Ms Kang took the lead in creating a new guidebook for members of the SAVER-Premium Fund. This guidebook gives members useful information on how they can maximise their funds. 

"We appreciate the informative guidebook which we can refer members to when they have questions. The guidebook is not too wordy and the cartoons and illustrations are helpful." - MAJ Nicholas Tan Kok Ming, S2/DyS3/GSO, HQ DAG