SAF & RSAF Rank Structure

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, Air Cadets will be able to:

(a) describe the rank structure of SAF & RSAF.

SAF & RSAF Rank Structure

Introduction

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has five rank schemes for active and reservist personnel, with a sixth for the auxiliaries of the SAF Volunteer Corps. The rank structure is largely unified, with identical rank insignia across the Singapore Army, Republic of Singapore Navy, and Republic of Singapore Air Force. 

The ranks of uniformed servicemen are outlined in the Singapore Armed Forces (Ranks of Servicemen) Regulations. As below is a list of ranks prescribed by legislation, arranged in order of increasing seniority. 

Enlistees

All new soldiers in the SAF, also known as enlistees, make up the bulk of manpower in the SAF and comprise the majority of full-time national servicemen. They must first undergo Basic Military Training (BMT), during which they hold the most basic rank of recruit (REC) until they successfully complete their training. Once recruits graduate from their BMT they attain the rank of private (PTE). 

Selected recruits may also be chosen for further leadership training at the Specialist Cadet School (SCS) or Officer Cadet School (OCS) after graduating from BMT to become future specialists or officers respectively. 

The others can be further promoted to the ranks of private (first class) (PFC), lance corporal (LCP), corporal (CPL), and corporal (first class) (CFC), if they perform well in their unit 

The rank structure of NCC is very similar to that of SAF, except that there are no private first class and corporal first class ranks.

Specialists

Specialists serve as the junior commanders in the Singapore Armed Forces. They are specifically trained in a variety of equipment and skills and are considered "subject matter experts". They take responsibility for leading and training small units and work together with commissioned officers. 

Specialists in general are addressed as "Sergeant", while staff sergeants are addressed as "Staff" and master sergeants as "Master".

The rank insignia of specialists consists of three downward-pointing chevrons for the lowest rank of third sergeant, with additional upward-pointing chevrons depending on their seniority. In addition, staff-level ranks contain a coat of arms of Singapore between the upward-pointing and downward-pointing chevrons.

The rank structure in NCC runs parallel to SAF, where cadets are promoted to 3SG upon passing the specialist assessment, and promoted to 1SG either internally by recommendation of CO or passing Senior Specialist Assessment Course (SSLC). Cadets who has passed SSLC and hold key appointments can be recommended for promotion to the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG). Cadets holding the Unit Sergeant Major (USM) and Assistant Unit Sergeant Major (ASM) appointment will hold the Master Sergeant (MSG) rank.

Warrant Officers

Warrant officers serve as senior mentors and disciplinarians in units as well as training institutes. Warrant officers are appointed by the Armed Forces Council, and may be given command responsibility of units and serve as disciplinary or investigating officers for military offences. Like officers, they may also carry ceremonial swords on parades, and wear their ranks on their shoulder epaulettes.

The rank insignia of a third warrant officer (3WO) consists of a coat of arms of Singapore with an arc below and a thin upward-pointing chevron, while that of a second warrant officer (2WO) through to senior warrant officer (SWO) have a thicker chevron which vary in number according to the rank. Finally, the rank of chief warrant officer (CWO) is distinguished from the rank of senior warrant officer with the addition of a laurel.

Warrant officers are addressed as "Encik" for males or "Cik" for females, in respect of their experience and knowledge. 

Officers

Officers exercise leadership and command authority in the SAF. Prospective officers are selected from trainees in BMT and SCS, and undergo training at the Officer Cadet School (OCS). They are appointed by the President of Singapore.

Junior officers are in charge of sub-units, and begin at the rank of second lieutenant (2LT), and may be promoted to the ranks of lieutenant (LTA). Regular and reservist personnel may be further promoted to the rank of captain (CPT) after attending courses at the SAF Advanced Schools. The rank insignia of junior officers are depicted by bars.

Senior officers are typically placed in charge of units or higher branches and responsible for making command decisions. They begin duties at the rank of major (MAJ), and may progress to lieutenant colonel (LTC), senior lieutenant colonel (SLTC), or colonel (COL). The rank insignia for senior officers uses the coat of arms of Singapore, also informally known as "crabs".

The general officers are the highest-ranking officers in the SAF, and are responsible for broad strategy and policies which affect the entire armed forces. Their rank insignia consists of stars, ranging from one for brigadier generals (BG) and rear admiral (one-star) (RADM(1)), two for major generals (MG) and rear admiral (two-star) (RADM(2)), and three for lieutenant generals (LG) and vice admirals (VADM).

All officers are addressed by lower-ranking personnel as "Sir" for males or "Ma'am" for females.

Military Experts

Military experts are soldiers that serve in specific military domains under the Military Domain Experts Scheme, which is a separate rank scheme that was introduced in April 2010. The rank structure runs in parallel with the conventional ranks of enlistees, specialists, warrant officers, and commissioned officers, and allows for continual advancement from ME1 to higher ranks all the way to ME8 based upon expertise and performance levels.

SAFVC Volunteers

The SAF Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) was established in October 2014 to allow female Singapore citizens, first generation permanent residents and naturalised citizens, all of whom would not ordinarily have any national service obligation, to serve as volunteers in the SAF. The SAFVC Volunteers (SV) have a unique rank structure that does not correlate with the other ranks in the SAF.

The SAFVC ranks comprise five tiers from SAFVC Volunteer (Trainee), abbreviated as SV (Trainee), to SAFVC Volunteer 4 (SV4), enumerated by winged chevrons.

There are no SAFVC in the Air Force and Navy.

Suffixes to rank titles

Military ranks are sometimes suffixed with an abbreviation to denote certain circumstances under which the personnel holds the rank.

• The addendum (NS) is used for reservists, also known as operationally ready national servicemen, who are still serving their reservist obligations, e.g. CPL (NS), 3SG (NS), COL (NS), ME4-1 (NS), etc.

• The addendum (Retired) or (RET) is used for reservists and regulars who are honorably discharged from service after they reach their statutory age of service, and have fulfilled their reservist obligations, e.g. Major (Retired), MAJ (RET), BG (RET), SWO (RET), etc.

• The addendum (Volunteer) or (VOL) is used for servicemen who have reached their statutory age cap from their reservist obligations but have voluntarily extended their service, e.g. Colonel (Volunteer), COL (VOL), BG (VOL) etc

• For NCC, our rank has the addendum (NCC) to denote that our NCC rank, e.g. 3SG (NCC) for cadets, CPT (NCC) for teacher officers. For cadet officers, their ranks will have a prefix of 'C/', e.g. C/LTA for cadet lieutenant.

Task

Click here to see how much you have learnt about the rank structure in the SAF and RSAF.