Ministry Of Defence (MINDEF): Change in Chief of Army

Brigadier-General (BG) Ravinder Singh s/o Harchand Singh will take over from Major-General (MG) Chan Chun Sing as Chief of Army on 25 March 2011.

BG Ravinder Singh, 46, who is currently Deputy Secretary (Technology) in the Ministry of Defence, joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in December 1982, and was awarded the SAF Overseas Training Award (Academic) in 1983. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours First Class) (Engineering Science) and a Master of Arts (Engineering Science) from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He also holds a Master of Science (Management of Technology) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States of America. His previous appointments in the SAF include Commanding Officer, 3rd Signal Battalion; Commander, 2nd Singapore Infantry Brigade; Assistant Chief of General Staff (Plans); Head Joint Communications and Information Systems Department; Head Joint Plans and Transformation Department; Commander 6th Division and Chief of Staff - Joint Staff. BG Ravinder Singh has made significant contributions to the development of the 3rd Generation SAF which includes the application of Integrated Knowledge-Based Command and Control (IKC2) as the key driver for the SAF's transformation efforts.

MG Chan Chun Sing, 41, began his military career in 1987 and has served the SAF with distinction. Through the course of his career, MG Chan has held the appointments of Commanding Officer 2nd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment; Commander, 10th Singapore Infantry Brigade; Head Joint Plans and Transformation Department; Commander 9th Division and Chief Infantry Officer, and Chief of Staff - Joint Staff. As Chief of Army since 26 Mar 2010, MG Chan was instrumental in operationalising key aspects of the Army's 3rd Generation transformation. This included the establishment of the Motorised Infantry Training Institute to hone the Army's competency in motorised infantry operations. MG Chan also oversaw the revamp of the SAF's combat fitness training system to strengthen our soldiers' abilities to operate in an increasingly complex and urbanised operational environment. Under MG Chan's command, the Army made significant contributions to the multinational stabilisation and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, deploying Weapon Locating Radar teams and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Task Group to Uruzgan; and Military Institutional Trainers to Kabul. MG Chan will be retiring from the SAF.

MINDEF and the SAF wish to express their deep appreciation to MG Chan Chun Sing for his distinguished service and outstanding contributions to MINDEF and the SAF.