Ravinder Singh s/o Harchand Singh is a Singaporean former

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

who served as Chief of Army between 2011 and 2014. He has been serving as the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

ST Engineering Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, doing business as ST Engineering, is a Singaporean multinational technology and engineering group in the aerospace, smart city as well as defence and public security sectors. Headquartered in Singapore, ...

since 2021.

Education

Singh received the Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Training Award (Academic) in 1983. He obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

(First Class Honours) and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

in engineering science from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

in 1986 and 1992 respectively. He was awarded the Singapore Armed Forces Postgraduate Scholarship in 1995. He graduated from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

in 1996 with a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast ...

in management. He attended the Advanced Management programme in

Wharton Business School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

Military career

Singh enlisted in the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDE ...

(SAF) in December 1982. He was commissioned as a signals officer in December 1986 and served in active duty with the

United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission The United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) was established on April 9, 1991 following the Gulf War by Security Council Resolution 689 (1991) and fully deployed by early May 1991. The task of joint military observers was to mon ...

(UNIKOM) in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

in 1991. In 1995, he attended the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perman ...

. Throughout his military career, he has held various other appointments, including: Head, System Development Group; Commander, 2nd Singapore Infantry Brigade; Commander, 6th Division. In 2009, he retired from active military service as Chief of Staff, Joint Staff and transited to a civil servant as Deputy Secretary (Technology),

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

. In 2011, Singh was recalled back to active service and succeeded

Chan Chun Sing Chan Chun Sing ( zh, s=陈振声, p=Chén Zhènshēng; born 9 October 1969) is a Singaporean politician and former major-general who has been serving as Minister for Education since 2021 and Minister-in-charge of Public Service since 2018. A m ...

as the Chief of Army on 25 March 2011 and held this appointment until 21 March 2014, when he was succeeded by

Perry Lim Perry Lim Cheng Yeow is a Singaporean former lieutenant-general who served as Chief of Defence Force between 2015 and 2018. Education Lim studied at Raffles Institution and won the President's Scholarship and the Singapore Armed Forces Ove ...

. Singh, who is of Punjabi Indian descent and a Sikh by religion, is the first non-Chinese Singaporean to serve as the Chief of Army since 1982.

Post-military career

Singh served as the president of

ST Kinetics ST Engineering Land Systems Ltd (STELS), doing business as ST Kinetics, is a strategic business area of ST Engineering and handles land systems and specialty vehicles. In 2000, ST Engineering acquired the Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS ...

before his current appointment as the

, since 1 January 2021.

Personal life

Singh is married to Kohila and they have two sons.

Awards and decorations

Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Emas) (Tentera)

Public Administration Medal, (Gold) (Military) - PPA(E), in 2012. * Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Perak) (Tentera)

Public Administration Medal, (Silver) (Military) - PPA(P), in 2005. *

Long Service Medal (Military) ribbon (from 2006)

Long Service Medal (Military) The Long Service Medal (Military) is a decoration awarded to a member of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) (regardless of regular or NSmen status) who has completed 25 years of continuous service. Previously, regular servicemen were eligible for t ...

, in 2008. *

Singapore Armed Forces Long Service and Good Conduct (10 Years) Medal ribbon with clasp

Singapore Armed Forces Long Service and Good Conduct (10 Years) Medal with 15 year clasp *

Singapore Armed Forces Good Service Medal ribbon

Singapore Armed Forces Good Service Medal The Singapore Armed Forces Good Service Medal is awarded to a regular career soldier of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) who has satisfactorily completed 5 years of dedicated service. The medal may be awarded to NSmen who have served 2 years of ...

Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Service Medal ribbon (from 1999)

Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Service Medal, in 1992 * ONZ Medal w Służbie Pokoju UNIKOM BAR

United Nations Medal A United Nations Medal is an international decoration awarded by the United Nations (UN) to the various world countries members for participation in joint international military and police operations such as peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, a ...

, in 1992. * Order of the Crown of Thailand - 1st Class (Thailand) ribbon

Knight Grand Cross of the Most Noble Order of the Crown * SAF Parachute (Basic)

Basic Parachutist Badge *

80px 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

Combat Skills Badge * Thailand Master Airborne Badge

Thailand Airborne Badge

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ravinder Living people Singaporean Sikhs Singaporean people of Indian descent Punjabi people Chiefs of the Singapore Army Alumni of the University of Oxford MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Recipients of the Long Service Medal (Military) (Singapore) 1961 births