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, but prior to 1982, the three component services maintained their own distinct sets of uniform insignia, particularly for officer-level ranks. In 1982, the SAF implemented identical rank insignia across all three services along with a new service dress uniform. Rank titles are also largely identical, with only two exceptions in the Republic of Singapore Navy, where general officers have admiral ranks while officer cadets are referred to as midshipmen. ==Rank structure==

The ranks of uniformed personnel are outlined in the Singapore Armed Forces (Ranks of Servicemen) Regulations. While the legislation provides for the ranks of general and admiral, there have not been any holders of these ranks , and their rank insignia are not known. As below is a list of ranks prescribed by legislation, arranged in order of increasing seniority. Enlistees s (left) and a first sergeant (right) from the Singapore Armed Forces Provost Unit providing security cover for the 2000 National Day Parade at the Padang, Singapore.|alt= Enlistees make up the bulk of manpower in the SAF and comprise the majority of full-time national servicemen. All new soldiers in the SAF, also known as enlistees, must first undergo Basic Military Training (BMT), Selected recruits may also be chosen for further leadership training at the Specialist Cadet School or Officer Cadet School after graduating from BMT to become future specialists or officers respectively. Recruits and privates of all armed services do not wear any rank insignia. Specialists Tay (left) with a second sergeant (centre) and third sergeant (right) of the 36th Battalion, Singapore Combat Engineers|alt= 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. The specialist corps (as well as the warrant officer corps) were introduced in 1992 to replace the previous non-commissioned officer corps. This rank is considered equivalent to a private, Servicemen may subsequently be promoted to second sergeant (2SG) and first sergeant (1SG). Regular personnel may progress further to the staff-level ranks of staff sergeant (SSG) or master sergeant (MSG). Like officers, they may also carry ceremonial swords on parades, and wear their ranks on their shoulder epaulettes. While technically ranking below commissioned officers, warrant officers are addressed by junior commissioned officers as "" for males or "" for females, in respect of their experience and knowledge. 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). All officers are addressed by lower-ranking personnel as "Sir" for males or "Ma'am" for females. 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 ME9 based upon expertise and performance levels. The rank titles do not have unique names, but are instead suffixed by a cardinal number from 1 to 9 (for example, Military Expert 3 or ME3), with 1 indicating the most junior rank and 9 the most senior. Each of the ranks are further qualified by another suffix: this may be a number to denote pay grades (for example, Military Expert 4–2 or ME4-2); or a letter to denote military experts in different stages of training, namely T for trainees (for example, Military Expert 4 Trainee or ME4T) or A for apprentices (for example, Military Expert 4 Apprentice or ME4A). Their insignia has the National Arms inside the diamond with a gold border. Military expert trainees are considered equivalent to the rank of private, while military expert apprentices are considered equivalent to the rank of Military Expert 1. Similar to a warrant officer, military experts under the warrant officers scheme holding ME3 rank are addressed by lower-ranking personnel as "Encik" for males or "Cik" for females; while senior military experts with ME4 rank and above are addressed by lower-ranking personnel as "Sir" for males or "Ma'am" for females, similar to officers. 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. ==Rank etiquette==

Wearing of rank insignia Where the rank insignia is worn depends on a number of factors, including the uniform type, rank scheme, gender, and service of the serviceman. When wearing the No. 4 uniform (combat uniform), all servicemen wear their rank insignia on a chest strap. Otherwise, when wearing other uniforms, the rank insignia of enlistees and specialists are generally worn on the sleeves, while that of warrant officers, 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 (NSmen), who are still serving their reservist obligations, e.g. CPL (NS), 3SG (NS), COL (NS). • The addendum (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. MAJ (RET), BG (RET), SWO (RET). • The addendum (VOL) is used for servicemen who have reached their statutory age cap from their reservist obligations but have voluntarily extended their service, e.g. COL (VOL), BG (VOL). ==Historical rank insignia==

1983–1989 ;Officers ;Army Enlisted ==See also==