Cyber-security specialists among 122 appointed as SAF senior military experts

SINGAPORE – With cyber-threat hunting skills in high demand, Military Expert 4 (ME4) Tan Jia Le, 25, could easily have joined the private sector, like many of his fellow information security graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS).

But ME4 Tan, who also studied information security at polytechnic, had long decided that he wanted to join the ranks of those who defend Singapore’s most critical systems and infrastructure.

This decision was cemented by his vocation as a cyber specialist during his national service, which trained him to deal with advanced cyber threats and carry out real-world cyber-security operations such as incident response and tests of network vulnerabilities.

Having found his calling, ME4 Tan converted to the SAF’s Command, Control, Communications, and Computers Expert (C4X) scheme.

On Jan 25, he was one of 122 servicemen and servicewomen appointed as senior military experts.

“Many of the people who are graduating from cyber-security courses are heading to the private sector, but I felt there was a need for people to stand up and join the public sector to boost its cyber expertise,” said ME4 Tan, who received the Sword of Honour, given to the best trainee in each batch.

In a speech at the appointment ceremony, Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How said the Military Domain Experts Scheme (MDES) strengthens the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) by ensuring that it has deep expertise in key military domains such as cyber security, intelligence, engineering and medical skills.

Introduced in 2010, the scheme has been pivotal in attracting well-qualified professionals, including mid-career workers, to join the SAF, he added.

This is key when the nature of warfare is becoming increasingly sophisticated and a hybrid, said Mr Heng.

He cited how Ukrainian forces modified thousands of inexpensive hobby drones for surveillance and strike capabilities, and used digital technology to level the battlefield against Russia’s advantage in conventional warfighting.

“The speed and agility to operationally adapt technologies, including commercial off-the-shelf and lower-cost options, have enabled the seizing of tactical advantage on the battlefield,” he said.

Having mid-career professionals in the SAF also adds richness and rigour to its work, and allows the uniformed services to better benchmark their capabilities against industry standards, he added.

Mr Heng noted that MDES has continued to advance since it was launched. In 2019, the C4X vocation was introduced to deepen the SAF’s cyber-defence capabilities.

The vocation was expanded recently with a new track to develop digital competencies within the SAF in software engineering, data science, artificial intelligence and cloud architecture.

The 122 who graduated on Jan 25 comprise 24 personnel from the Singapore Army, 18 from the Republic of Singapore Navy, 32 from the Republic of Singapore Air Force and 48 from the Digital and Intelligence Service.

Among them were ME4 Nabilah Atiqah, 25, who said she was inspired by her elder sister, a nurse, and the opportunity for an unconventional career in the SAF, when she decided to become a military medical expert. “We get training in things like deploying battalion casualty stations, tactical combat casualty care, and we get opportunities to develop leadership skills,” she told The Straits Times.

The ceremony marked the end of the Military Domain Experts Course for the latest group of graduates. They will now be moved to operational roles.