The Officer Cadet School (OCS) is widely known among Singaporeans, and is often associated with prestige and leadership. Graduands of OCS have every reason to feel immeasurable pride with having completed nearly a year of intensive and often gruelling physical training as well as mental and psychological testing to become the future leaders of the Singapore Armed Forces.
Today, officer cadet training is done at the SAFTI Military Institute (SAFTI MI) in Jurong. Established in February 1996, SAFTI MI was then known as the SAF Training Institute or SAFTI and was originally housed in Jurong Primary School. Immediately after Singapore gained independence, one of the most compelling tasks faced by our leaders was to build a credible armed forces. Hence, the primary aim of SAFTI was to train officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs or Specialists as they are known today) to lead the then infant SAF.
To attract the best of the nation’s youth to join, the Ministry of Defence mounted a massive recruitment campaign in May 1966. The response was overwhelming with some 2500 young men applying. Of these, 500 were short listed and called up for selection. The selection process was rigorous and thorough, and included written tests, IQ tests, interviews and physical fitness tests. The process was meticulous to sieve out those with the necessary mental attributes, physical endurance and determination to qualify for OCS. Such were the high expectations of the officer cadet course! On 1 June 1966, the first intake of officer cadets was received into SAFTI.
Today, the spirit of Officer Cadet training remains unwavering in its primary aim to produce future leaders for the SAF. Emphasis is placed on technical knowledge and its application; physical aptitude including physical fitness, dexterity with weapons, alertness, and combat skills; and the spiritual foundation that will prevail over the trials in the battlefield. Officer Cadet training is as much a test of physical strength as it is a test of mental attributes such as tenacity, determination and sheer will power. This is often the most challenging task for OCS – to impart the abstract value system that enables the cadet to push himself beyond his perceived limits and sustain him as a commander in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.
Officer cadet training, from its rigorous selection process to its multi-faceted training and discipline, ensures that there will always be men and women who have what it takes to lead and command within the SAF.
