The SAFTI Military Institute (SAFTI MI) is a military institute of the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDE ...

(SAF) comprising five schools: the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College, three SAF Advanced Schools, and the

Officer Cadet School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Typ ...

. Located on an campus in

Jurong West Jurong West is a planning area and residential town located in the West Region of Singapore. Jurong West shares boundaries with Tengah in the north, Jurong East in the east, Boon Lay and Pioneer in the south, and Western Water Catchment in t ...

, it was originally established in 1966 in

Pasir Laba Camp Pasir Laba Camp is a military base of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) located in Western Water Catchment, Singapore. It is home to the Specialist and Warrant Officer Institute, where specialists (non-commissioned officers) and warrant officers ...

as the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI) before it moved to its current location in 1995 and became known as the SAFTI Military Institute.

History

Although the SAFTI Military Institute is an amalgamated institution, it draws much of its heritage from the original Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI), which was officially opened on 14 February 1966 at

. On 14 November 1987, Second Minister for Defence

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...

announced that a new SAFTI Military Institute would be built on a plot of land in

. Construction started in June 1988 and ended by February 1991. The SAFTI Military Institute housed the

, School of Advanced Training for Officers, and the Singapore Command and Staff College. The original SAFTI name is preserved in the new name of the institute, as well as in the name of the bridge connecting

to the SAFTI Military Institute. The SAFTI Military Institute was originally intended to be open to the general public. Before the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

in 2001, civilians did not require passes and did not have to undergo security checks before entering the campus. Only the offices and living quarters had restricted access. Since then, however, the SAFTI Military Institute has imposed access restrictions like all other military bases in Singapore, and security checks are mandatory for all visitors. No unauthorised photography and filming are allowed within the campus, and camera phones are not allowed in areas designated as Red Zones.

Architecture

There is much symbolism in the SAFTI Military Institute campus, which sits on a hill. The Officer Cadet School was described by its architect as being shaped like a cradle, from which officers are born. Besides, the locations of the schools within the campus symbolise the stages of an officer's career. The Officer Cadet School is on the lower reaches of the hill, the SAF Advanced Schools are located midway along the hill, while the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College is at the top. A prominent feature is the Tower, approximately tall and visible from many parts of western Singapore. It has three sides representing the three branches of the SAF. It is served by a lift and a 265-step stairway which symbolically represents the number of days a cadet takes to become an officer. The parade square measures by and the viewing stands can accommodate up to 5,000 people.

Organisation

The SAFTI Military Institute is headed by a Commandant, who usually holds the rank of

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

. The institute has five schools: the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College, three SAF Advanced Schools for the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

, and the

(OCS).

Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College

The Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College (GKSCSC), formerly known as the Singapore Command and Staff College (SCSC) before 2011, conducts the 41-week Command and Staff Course for career officers and the 32-week National Service Command and Staff Course for

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...

officers who have demonstrated potential for senior appointments. Every year, officers from other countries are invited to attend the Command and Staff Course. As of October 2009, 170 officers from 24 countries had completed the course alongside officers from the Singapore Armed Forces. The college started conducting its first Command and Staff Course in 1969 and was officially opened in February 1970 by Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

Fort Canning Fort Canning Hill, formerly Government Hill, Singapore Hill and Bukit Larangan (''Forbidden Hill'' in Malay), is a small hill, about high, in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Sin ...

. It was relocated to Marina Hill in the 1970s and Seletar Camp in the 1980s before it moved to its current location within the SAFTI Military Institute in 1995. In 2011, it was renamed after

Goh Keng Swee Goh Keng Swee (; 6 October 1918 – 14 May 2010), born Robert Goh Keng Swee, was a Singaporean politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1985. Goh is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of Singa ...

, Singapore's first

defence minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

SAF Advanced Schools

The three SAF Advanced Schools (SAS) – Army Officers' Advanced School (AOAS), Naval Officers' Advanced School (NAS), and Air Force Officers' Advanced School (AFAS) – conduct advanced courses for officers and military experts from all three branches of the Singapore Armed Forces. They started in September 1968 when the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

set up the School of Advanced Training for Officers (SATO) after the first batch of officer cadets at SAFTI were commissioned. SAFTI's first commandant, Brigadier-General

Kirpa Ram Vij Kirpa Ram Vij (1935 – 29 October 2022) was an Indian-born Singaporean civil servant, business executive, and brigadier-general. Vij was born in Hazara District in British India (now Pakistan) in 1935 and moved to Singapore after 1947. He grad ...

, was among the first trainees at SATO. SATO was later renamed Army Officers' Advanced School and the schools for the Navy and Air Force were subsequently established. Courses conducted by the SAF Advanced Schools include the Company Tactics Course, Advanced Infantry Officers' Course, and Battalion Tactics Course.

Officer Cadet School

The Officer Cadet School (OCS) is where

officer cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Air ...

s are trained to serve as

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

s in the

. The cadets are drawn from the best performing recruits in each

Basic Military Training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...

cohort. Trainees with outstanding performance from the

Specialist Cadet School The Specialist Cadet School (SCS) is the military training centre for the Singapore Armed Forces' specialists, the equivalent of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in other countries' armed forces. Made up of twelve companies divided into three ...

(SCS), where specialists (

non-commissioned officers A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

) are trained, are also invited to transfer to OCS. Career soldiers may also attend OCS on application, recommendation and selection.

SAFTI Services Centre

The SAFTI Services Centre, previously known as Service Support Unit, provides support services such as security, medical, dental, physiotherapy, transport, estate, signal and logistics for all units within the campus.

Facilities

The SAFTI Military Institute has extensive sporting and recreation facilities, including a stadium with a soccer field and running track, an Olympic-sized swimming pool with a diving tower, and an indoor rock-climbing wall. It also has a library which is open only to military personnel as of September 2019.

SAFTI Link Bridge

The SAFTI Link Bridge is the first cable-stayed bridge in Singapore, spanning across the

Pan Island Expressway The Pan Island Expressway (Abbreviated as: PIE) is the oldest and longest expressway in Singapore. It is also Singapore's longest road. The expressway runs from the East Coast Parkway near Changi Airport in the east to Tuas in the west and ha ...

(PIE) and connecting the SAFTI Military Institute to

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Safti Military Institute Military education and training in Singapore Naval academies Camps and bases of the Singapore Armed Forces Jurong West Educational institutions established in 1966 1966 establishments in Singapore