24 Jul 2014
Transitioning from the life of a soldier to that of a student is no easy feat when one has been in service for more than two decades.
But 43-year-old Military Expert (ME) 4 Ng See Lye, a 27-year veteran with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), readily took up the challenge to attend the Military Domain Experts Course (MDEC), excelling in it, and eventually receiving the Sword of Honour.
The Deputy Officer Commanding of Logistics Flight in 149 Squadron received the Sword of Honour from Second Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing at the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Senior Military Experts Appointment Ceremony at SAFTI Military Institute on 23 Jul. He was appointed Senior ME, along with 90 other servicemen and women.
The appointment ceremony marked the completion of the seventh MDEC, where the MEs acquired in-depth expertise in their respective fields. The training enables them to develop their leadership competency, deepen their military domain knowledge, and hone their specialised skills. They will then move on to assume command or staff appointments in their professional areas.
This was the largest graduating cohort since the inaugural ceremony in 2011.
The graduands comprised 51 MEs from the RSAF, 14 from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), 12 from the Army, and 14 from Joint.
In his speech, Mr Chan had these words of advice for the newly-appointed Senior MEs: "Lead your men with conviction and with heart. Take care of them through thick and thin, in good times and in bad."
He said: "There will be many challenges ahead of you, and we will never be able to know what will happen in the future. You may be called upon to undergo operations in which you have never been trained before. You must never, never fear, or shirk your responsibility to take care of your men to the best of your ability under your charge."
These words resonated with ME4 Ng, who had taken the initiative to organise sessions to share his experiences with trainees who had just signed on with the SAF. He said: "We should not just receive, but we should give back to the organisation (by sharing knowledge and experience with others)."
This cohort also saw the oldest graduand of the MDEC to date. But to ME4 Elangovan s/o Palaniappan, 55, from the RSAF, age was just a number, and did not hold him back. Slightly apprehensive at first about attending an academic course, he persevered and scored well in the course.
Describing one of the highlights of the MEDC for him, ME4 Elangovan, said: "We had this opportunity whereby all the branch heads and commanding officers came to give us lectures. Their perspectives and insights are broader, and it was a rare learning opportunity."
Navy graduand, ME4 Joyce Tan agreed that the sharing by senior commanders yielded many learning points. The Combat Systems Engineer on board Landing Ship Tank RSS Persistence also credited the course with giving her a deeper and broader understanding of the systems under her purview.
For Army graduand, ME4 Chen Kee Wui, the course had given him a better understanding of his role, and the knowledge gained would be invaluable. He said: "I think the biggest objective (of the course) was to give us the width as well as the depth of understanding."
He is the first through-trained military expert, holding the appointment of Brigade Sergeant Major of 3rd Division Support Command - a post traditionally held by warrant officers.
Said ME4 Chen: "Previously, from the through-trained perspective, we were more used to the day-to-day maintenance of equipment. When we moved on to attend the MDEC and become Senior MEs, we realised there was more to it. For example, equipment life cycle management must be taken into consideration."
Also present at the ceremony were Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral (RADM) Ng Chee Peng, Chief of Air Force Major-General (MG) Hoo Cher Mou, senior SAF officers, as well as families and friends of the graduands
