The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has five rank schemes for active and reservist personnel, with a sixth for the auxiliaries of the SAF Volunteer Corps. The SAF has a unique rank structure as an integrated force, ranks are the same in the Singapore Army, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), and the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS).
Two corporals (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.
Master Sergeant Tay (left) with a second sergeant (centre) and third sergeant (right) of the 36th Battalion, Singapore Combat Engineers
Colonel Joseph Leong, Republic of Singapore Navy (right) shakes hands with Captain Al Collins, United States Navy (left) in Changi Naval Base during exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2006. Both officers are of similar rank but bear different rank titles and insignia.
A Military Expert 3 (right) with other soldiers of the Republic of Singapore Air Force at the 2014 Singapore Airshow. A Military Expert 2 (left) is identifiable with an abbreviated rank title on his name tape even though the rank insignia on his chest is obscured.
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the maritime service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any seaborne threats and as a guarantor of its sea lines of communications. The RSN traces its origins to the Royal Navy when Singapore was still a crown colony of the British Empire. The service was formally established in 1967, two years after its independence from Malaysia in 1965, and had undergone a substantial modernisation ever since – which has led them into becoming the most powerful navy in Southeast Asia.
HMS Laburnum served in the SSRNVR until she was scuttled during the fall of Singapore in World War II.
RSS Panglima, first ship of the RSN, underway in 1988 as a training ship; she was decommissioned in 1991.
Model of a Swift-class coastal patrol craft
RSS Endurance berthed at Pearl Harbor while en route to Fleet Week 2000 in New York City; she was the first RSN ship to circumnavigate the globe.