Ravinder Singh s/o Harchand Singh is a Singaporean former major-general who served as Chief of Army between 2011 and 2014. He has been serving as the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

ST Engineering ST Engineering, is a global technology, defence and engineering group with a diverse portfolio of businesses across the aerospace, smart city, defence and public security segments. Headquartered in Singapore, the group reported a revenue of ov ...

since 2021.

Education

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

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(First Class Honours) and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in engineering science from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, 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 List of oldest un ...

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 research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1996 with a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in management. He attended the Advanced Management programme in

Wharton Business School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

Military career

Singh enlisted in the

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

(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, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

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, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

. 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 A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. 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, j=Can4 Zan3 Sing1, first=j; born 9 October 1969) is a Singaporean politician and former major-general who is serving as Minister for Defence in 2025 and Minister-in-charge of Public Serv ...

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), formerly known 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

* Public Administration Medal, (Gold) (Military) - PPA(E), in 2012. * Public Administration Medal, (Silver) (Military) - PPA(P), in 2005. * Long Service Medal (Military), in 2008. * Singapore Armed Forces Long Service and Good Conduct (10 Years) Medal with 15 year clasp * Singapore Armed Forces Good Service Medal * Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Service Medal, in 1992 *

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. * Knight Grand Cross of the Most Noble

Order of the Crown of Thailand The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (; ) is a Thai order, established in 1869 by King Rama V of The Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) for Thais, the royal family, governmental employees, and foreign dignitaries for their outstanding serv ...

(2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ravinder Living people Singaporean Sikhs Singaporean people of Indian descent Singaporean people of Punjabi descent 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