Military ranks of Singapore
Like many Commonwealth countries, the SAF draws its heritage from the British military, however Singapore no longer uses British-style rank insignia across its armed services and also does not use the corresponding Royal Navy and Royal Air Force rank titles for its navy and air force.
The three branches of the SAF were unified in 1972,[1] but prior to 1982, the three component services maintained their own distinct sets of uniform insignia, particularly for officer-level ranks.
As below is a list of ranks prescribed by legislation, arranged in order of increasing seniority.
Enlistees make up the bulk of manpower in the SAF and comprise the majority of full-time national servicemen.
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.
In addition, staff-level ranks contain a coat of arms of Singapore between the upward-pointing and downward-pointing chevrons.
Warrant officers serve as senior mentors and disciplinarians in units as well as training institutes.
[16] Like officers, they may also carry ceremonial swords on parades, and wear their ranks on their shoulder epaulettes.
[14] Warrant officers are typically promoted from the ranks of specialists and generally have more than ten years of service,[10] although outstanding specialists can attain the rank of third warrant officer as soon as seven years into service.
Regular and reservist personnel may be further promoted to the rank of captain (CPT) after attending courses at the SAF Advanced Schools.
[18] Senior officers are typically placed in charge of units or higher branches and responsible for making command decisions.
[8][10] The rank insignia for senior officers uses the coat of arms of Singapore, also informally known as "crabs".
[7] All officers are addressed by lower-ranking personnel as "Sir" for males or "Ma'am" for females.
[7] The SAF Volunteer Corps (SAFVC) was established in October 2014[22] 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.
