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Singapore Recruitment and Training of Personnel
All male citizens were eligible for the draft on their
eighteenth birthday. Prospective draftees reported to the
central
manpower base operated by the Ministry of Defence with
their birth
certificate, identity card, educational record, and
medical
records. In the 1970s, the Ministry of Defence
computerized the
registration process. The Integrated Manpower Information
System
maintained at the central manpower base enabled the
government to
match more efficiently the skills and educational
capabilities of
draftees to the manpower needs of the services. Exemptions
were
granted only if a person was medically unfit for service,
had a
criminal record, or could prove that his enlistment was a
hardship
for his family. Deferments were granted to students who
were
enrolled or had been accepted for admission at an
accredited
college or other education institution.
Singapore's declining rate of population was partially
responsible for government efforts to recruit more women
for
noncombatant duties. In 1980 about 50 percent of all women
in the
armed forces served in clerical positions in which
promotion and
career opportunities were limited. By 1989, however,
military
regulations had been changed to allow women to be
considered for
assignment to a number of military occupation specialties
previously reserved for men. Women with high school
diplomas and
those with specialized skills, such as computer
programming or
office management, were offered professional and technical
positions in support units. Many women found the medical
and fringe
benefits that came with a military career to be equivalent
or
better than these in the civilian job market. The
recruitment of
women for noncombatant duties enabled the Ministry of
Defence to
maintain manpower levels in combat units without changing
length of
service requirements or extending the length of reserve
duty.
Because of the scarcity of open land on the main
island,
Singapore established training bases and firing ranges on
offshore
islands and sometimes sent army units abroad for training
that
could not be provided in the country. The Military
Maneuvers Act--
passed in 1963 while Singapore was a part of Malaysia, and
amended
in 1983--strengthened restrictions on civilian access to
several
islands located northwest and south of the main island of
Singapore. Each of the services conducted live firing
exercises in
the restricted areas, and the army used some of the
islands for
basic military training and various types of field
training.
Operational exercises, such as amphibious landings and
training
conducted with Brunei and other countries, took place on
these
islands. The use of unpopulated islands for military
training
enabled the armed forces to avoid endangering the city and
other
heavily populated areas on the main island. Large scale
exercises
involving several battalions, however, were considered too
dangerous even on the deserted islands. After 1975 the
army used
bases in Taiwan for military training that included
combined arms
exercises involving infantry, artillery, and armored
units. These
exercises, engaging as many as 10,000 troops at one time,
provided
officers a chance to simulate wartime conditions more
closely and
gain experience in the command and control of operations
involving
several battalions.
In each of the three services, male inductees were
given three
months and female inducters three weeks of basic military
training
at the basic military training camp on Pulau Tekong. For
the men,
the program included daily physical exercise to build
stamina,
classroom and field instruction in handling small arms,
and day and
night combat operations. Particular emphasis was placed on
learning
to function as members of a combat team. Infantrymen
usually
remained with their basic training company throughout
their
military careers. In this way the army hoped to strengthen
the
efficiency of units during combat by encouraging the
loyalty of the
individual soldier to his unit. Basic training for female
military
personnel emphasized military discipline, physical
training, and an
introduction to military skills, including handling small
arms,
marching, and survival techniques.
Following basic training, conscripts selected for the
army's
combat units were given additional training that
familiarized them
with military procedures, weapons and equipment, tactics,
and a
unit's offensive and defensive missions during wartime.
Infantrymen
were assigned specific duties. Those assigned to rifle
platoons
learned assault tactics at their home base, while those
selected
for the weapons platoon were sent to the School of
Infantry Weapons
at Pasir Laba Camp where they received instruction in how
to fire
and care for mortars and recoilless guns. Training for
artillerymen
was provided first at the Artillery School at Khatib Camp,
where
they learned to locate and fire accurately at targets, and
then at
their home base, where the emphasis was on weapons
deployment in
battle. The courses at the Artillery School lasted from
eight to
thirteen weeks. In the eight-week gunner course,
artillerymen were
trained to fire 155mm guns. There were additional courses
for those
assigned to heavy mortar units and for artillery
specialists such
as the technical assistants responsible for computing
target
engagement data. Base training was conducted in two
phases. During
the first phase, field artillery and mortar units
practiced what
they had learned at the Artillery School and participated
in cross-
training, through which personnel were trained to perform
the
duties of other members of their gun or mortar unit. The
second
phase involved field deployment drills and battalion or
brigade
exercises. Tank crews were given an eight-week course at
the Armor
School located at Sungai Gedong Camp. A three-man crew
comprised a
commander, driver, and gunner. Training included
familiarization
with the tank, cross-training, and the use of computers
and visual
aids to simulate combat conditions. Most field exercises
involving
tanks were limited to small units, usually at the company
or
platoon level, again because of the limited space
available for
such training.
Outstanding army recruits were selected for training as
NCOs
and sent to Pasir Laba Camp to attend the School of
Infantry
Section Leaders. This program emphasized toughness and
endurance
during combat. Trainees were taken to various parts of the
main
island and Pulau Tekong and given extensive instruction in
leading
a small group and taking responsibility for its survival
in combat.
Additional training included conventional and
unconventional unit
tactics, discipline, and communication with the platoon
and company
headquarters.
The Armed Forces Training Institute located at Jurong
Camp
officer training and instruction for army personnel
enrolled in
advanced programs designed to improve leadership and
military
skills. Officer candidates, including university graduates
and
other recruits considered to have the aptitude and
physical
capabilities to command a platoon, took a nine-month
course at the
Officer Cadet School of the Armed Forces Training
Institute.
Classroom instruction included lectures on unit
administration,
tactics, planning operations, command and communications,
and
assessing unit capabilities in combat. During field
exercises,
cadets were presented with both urban and rural battle
scenarios in
which they took turns performing the duties of officers
and
enlisted men in order to improve their understanding of
the role of
subordinates. Graduates of the course were commissioned as
lieutenants and assigned to command active-duty or reserve
units.
The army's Advanced Training School and Command and Staff
College
also were located at the Armed Forces Training Institute.
The air force provided pilot training at the Flying
Training
School at Paya Lebar Air Base. Pilot trainees were
required to
complete the army's basic training and nine-month officer
cadet
courses before being accepted into the flight training
program. The
introduction to flying began with a one-month orientation
course in
advanced aerodynamics and aircraft instruments. This
course was
followed by sixteen weeks of training in Italian-produced
SF-260
turboprop and S-211 jet trainer aircraft. Following this
basic
flying course, cadets were assigned to fighter aircraft
squadrons
for forty weeks of advanced training that included sight
and
instrument control of flight, air-to-air and air-to-ground
combat
tactics, flying in formation, night flying, and other
subjects.
Those who failed to qualify were reassigned to transport
or rotary
aircraft units, or given ground assignments.
The air force also operated schools to train air
traffic
controllers, air defense controllers, and aircraft
maintenance
personnel. Air traffic controllers, trained at the Air
Traffic
Control School at Seletar Air Base, were taught how to
distinguish
commercial and military aircraft, to regulate military air
traffic,
and to provide emergency services. Air defense controllers
learned
to identify enemy aircraft on radar screens, to guide
fighter
aircraft to the enemy, and to operate surface-to-air
missiles. The
Air Engineering Training Institute offered a wide range of
courses
to train mechanics and technicians in the maintenance of
the
various types of aircraft, engines, radar, and
communications
equipment used by the air force.
Naval officer training was provided in the Midshipman
School at
Sembawang. This school had separate eighteen-month courses
to train
navigation, gunnery, communications, and logistics
officers.
Advanced officer training was not available, but most ship
commanders received additional training in Australia,
Britain, or
the United States. The navy also operated a Technical
Training
School for ship maintenance personnel at Pulau Brani and a
school
to train seamen for duties as gunners, radar operators,
and
communications specialists.
Training for army reserves included weekend duty at
army bases,
field and mobilization exercises, and occasional
assignments to
schools and training bases. Reserve military personnel
were
required to spend a minimum of forty days a year with
their
military unit or in an individual training program.
Regularly
scheduled weekend duty usually included physical fitness
exercises,
instruction in individual and unit military skills, and
occasional
travel for shooting practice to one of the army's indoor
firing
ranges or to a training area for field exercises. Every
few years,
reserve units were sent to the Basic Combat Training
Center at
Pasir Laba Camp for a ten-day refresher course in unit
tactics.
During mobilization exercises, selected units were
required to
assemble at their home base and deploy to their assigned
field
positions to test the readiness of personnel to respond to
an
alert. Most branch schools had some on-site and
correspondence
courses that reservists could take in order to fulfill
part of
their annual service requirement. The Armed Forces
Training
Institute offered courses for reservists chosen for
officer
training.
Data as of December 1989
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