Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen officiated at the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College (GKS CSC) Command and Staff Course (CSC) 2019 Graduation Ceremony and Dinner held at the Istana this evening. This year's ceremony marked the completion of the 50th CSC, 20th CSC (National Service), as well as the 12th and 13th CSC (Executive). The 222 graduates comprised 114 regular officers, 46 National Service (NS) officers, 37 military experts, and one warrant officer from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), one Singapore Police Force (SPF) officer, and 23 international officers from 15 countries^[1]. The CSC, CSC (NS) and CSC (Executive) 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, NS and international officers. This year's CSC saw the highest number of international officer attendance to date, with Jordan sending an officer to attend the course for the first time.

Addressing the graduates, Dr Ng reminded them of the key role military leaders play in strengthening defence relations between countries, especially at a time of strategic rivalry among the major powers. He said, "As senior leaders in your respective militaries and security agencies, you must do your part to strengthen confidence-building measures through defence diplomacy. Our current system of multilateralism has its flaws and some of the rules do need fixing for a fairer playing field. But we must not jettison or break that system because the alternatives will be much worse."

Dr Ng added that today's generation of military commanders would also have to deal with the impact of disruptive technologies. "Advances in machine learning, artificial intelligence, increasing automation, exploitation of cyber and outer space and hypersonic weaponry will bring about another Revolution in Military Affairs. It will impact vocations, units, and even entire formations. Modern militaries will have to restructure to remain relevant, let alone effective. This will be another big challenge as you lead your units through these changes," said Dr Ng.

At the ceremony, Dr Ng presented awards to six top graduates: Major (MAJ) Tan Pao Peng, MAJ Jamin Lau Jianmin, and MAJ Rajpal Singh S/O Harvinder Singh who received the Top Army, Navy, and Air Force Graduate Awards respectively in the 50th CSC; MAJ(NS) Terence Chia Yong Wei who received the Top Graduate Award in the 20th CSC (NS); as well as MAJ Cathleen Wee and MAJ Leksmanan S/O Prakash who topped the 12th and 13th CSC (Executive) respectively. Dr Ng also presented graduation certificates to the SPF officer and the 23 international officers.

Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Melvyn Ong had earlier presented the graduation certificates to 193 SAF graduates at the SAFTI Military Institute on 22 October 2019.