SAFTI Military Institute#Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College

File:SAFTI MI OCS 01.jpg within the SAFTI Military Institute as seen from the northwest.]]

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 Pasir Laba Camp.{{cite web |title=SAFTI Military Institute: Background and Milestones |url=https://www.mindef.gov.sg/oms/imindef/mindef_websites/atozlistings/saftimi/about_Us/background.html |website=Ministry of Defence (Singapore) |access-date=10 October 2022 |date=22 April 2015}}

On 14 November 1987, Second Minister for Defence Lee Hsien Loong announced that a new SAFTI Military Institute would be built on a {{convert|50|ha|acre|0|abbr=on}} plot of land in Jurong West. Construction started in June 1988 and ended by February 1991.{{Cite web |last=Lim |first=Michael |date=15 November 1987 |title=A Sandhurst-style campus for officers |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19871115-1.2.5 |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg |page=1 |language=en-SG}} The SAFTI Military Institute housed the Officer Cadet School, 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 Pasir Laba Camp to the SAFTI Military Institute.

The SAFTI Military Institute was originally intended to be open to the general public. Prior to the September 11 attacks 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, like all other military bases in Singapore, the SAFTI Military Institute also enforces access restrictions such as mandatory security checks for all visitors and a ban on camera phones in areas designated as Red Zones. Unauthorised photography and filming are also strictly prohibited within the campus. {{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

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.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

A prominent feature is the Tower, approximately {{convert|60|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} tall and visible from many parts of western Singapore. It has three sides with a stairway connecting within, representing the four 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.{{cite web |title=SAFTI Military Institute: Landmarks and Photos |url=https://www.mindef.gov.sg/oms/imindef/mindef_websites/atozlistings/saftimi/about_Us/photos.html |website=Ministry of Defence (Singapore) |access-date=10 October 2022 |date=27 February 2019}}

The parade square measures {{convert|120|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} by {{convert|170|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and the viewing stands can accommodate up to 5,000 people.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

The SAFTI Military Institute is headed by a Commandant, who usually holds the rank of Brigadier-General or Rear-Admiral. The institute has five schools: the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College, three SAF Advanced Schools for the Army, Navy, Digital and Intelligence Service and Air Force, and the Officer Cadet School (OCS).

The Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College (GKSCSC), formerly known as the Singapore Command and Staff College (SCSC), conducts the 41-week Command and Staff Course for regular officers and the 32-week National Service Command and Staff Course for reservist 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.{{cite web |title=150 Officers Graduate from Singapore Command and Staff Course and National Service Command and Staff Course |url=https://www.mindef.gov.sg/web/portal/mindef/news-and-events/latest-releases/article-detail/2009/october/2009oct30-news-releases-00572/!ut/p/z1/jZFRb4IwFIV_iw88kl4q0PGozjANiDJQ1pelalUWaBUat-zXr6JxD0a0b6f5zjm59yKKMkQFO-ZbpnIpWKH1B3U_SfQ6eAMbTyInsaA3T5LA6U9GKXHRogGime1bNuAgCmNHA573ksAUg08QfcYPd14PnvO3ALQ9fvyoQG8AV-Eg3CK6Z2pn5mIjUYYBPJTJlZJLXp2lFl0wBf-uzYoXnNW8NgEcgk8R-dfhQHuIrqRQ_EehrMzFmm_MRgtlwE6W3IDGzcTa5Ef9WxtQMMVrdQ004NRkwKX4LO8XLxBtHS8mF-D_fnOfaGA6csfeuwXD7g1we-BHK96XaZr9Bn1n6cbDWafzB440Nc8!/ |website=Ministry of Defence (Singapore) |access-date=19 September 2022 |date=30 October 2009}}

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 at Fort Canning.{{Cite web |url=http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article.aspx?articleid=straitstimes19720211.2.83&sessionid=edaaff23ff9541e5b54f5fa4fe1840e2&keyword=%22istana%22+%22Kirpa+Ram+Vij%22&lang=pa&token=ram%2cistana%2cvij%2ckirpa |title=The Straits Times, 11 February 1972, Page 12, Mr. Lee hosts Istana dinner |access-date=2011-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107021440/http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article.aspx?articleid=straitstimes19720211.2.83&sessionid=edaaff23ff9541e5b54f5fa4fe1840e2&keyword=%22istana%22+%22Kirpa+Ram+Vij%22&lang=pa&token=ram,istana,vij,kirpa |archive-date=2012-11-07 |url-status=dead }} 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, Singapore's first Minister for Defence.{{citation|author=Clarissa Oon|title=SAF institute, education centre named after Goh Keng Swee|date=30 August 2010|newspaper=The Straits Times|page=B4}}; {{citation|author=Alicia Wong|title=Military college and education centre to be named after Goh Keng Swee|date=30 August 2010|newspaper=Today|page=13}}.

The three SAF Advanced Schools (SAS)—Army Officers' Advanced School (AOAS), Naval Officers' Advanced School (NAS), Digital and Intelligence Officers’ Advanced School (DIAS) and Air Force Officers' Advanced School (AFAS)—conduct advanced courses for officers and military experts from all three branches of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). They started in September 1968 when the Ministry of Defence 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, 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.{{cite web |title=SAF Advanced Schools: Our Vision, Mission and History |url=https://www.mindef.gov.sg/oms/imindef/mindef_websites/atozlistings/saftimi/units/sas/aboutus/Our_Vision_and_History.html |website=Ministry of Defence (Singapore) |access-date=10 October 2022 |date=2013}}

{{main|Officer Cadet School (Singapore)}}

Image:SAFTI MI commissioning parade.jpg

The Officer Cadet School (OCS) is where officer cadets are trained to serve as commissioned officers in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The cadets are drawn from the best performing recruits in each Basic Military Training (BMT) cohort. Trainees with outstanding performance from the Specialist Cadet School (SCS), where specialists (non-commissioned officers) are trained, are also invited to transfer to OCS. Career soldiers may also attend OCS on application, recommendation and selection.{{cite web |title=Officer Cadet School |url=https://www.mindef.gov.sg/oms/imindef/mindef_websites/atozlistings/saftimi/units/ocs/home.html |website=Ministry of Defence (Singapore) |access-date=10 October 2022 |date=2017}}

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.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

The SAFTI Military Institute has extensive sporting and recreation facilities, including a stadium with a football pitch 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.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

The SAFTI Link Bridge is the first cable-stayed bridge in Singapore, spanning {{convert|100|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} across the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) and connecting the SAFTI Military Institute to Pasir Laba Camp.{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Yong Meng |date=26 August 1995 |title=Splendour on top of a hill |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19950826-1.2.75.8.3 |access-date=2022-09-02 |publisher=The Straits Times |page=26 |language=en-SG}}

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• {{Cite book |last=Menon |first=R. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35003344 |title=To command : SAFTI Military Institute |date=1995 |publisher=Landmark Books |isbn=981-3002-99-9 |location=Singapore |oclc=35003344}}

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Category:Military education and training in Singapore

Category:Naval academies

Category:Camps and bases of the Singapore Armed Forces

Category:Jurong West

Category:Educational institutions established in 1966

Category:1966 establishments in Singapore