SAF Full of scholars: Still hire Havard person to train them!

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/res...l#.Vq9TRrJ97Dd


A bomb has just exploded in a train station, leaving many wounded and dead. The perpetrators are nowhere to be seen. What should the Government's immediate response be?
Hunt down the suspects? Attend to the wounded? Conduct a bomb sweep? Lock down the vicinity? Issue a news release to prevent widespread panic?
This is a hypothetical scenario, but these are real decisions that Government agencies have to make in a crisis.
To help senior officers from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and various Government agencies come up with swift and effective inter-agency responses to large-scale crises, the SAF Centre for Leadership Development (CLD), supported by the National Security Coordinating Secretariat and Home Team Behavioural Sciences Centre, organised the inaugural Crisis Leadership Programme.
The Programme consisted of a three-day course conducted at SAFTI MI from 26 to 28 Jan and a half day Mass Seminar at the Home Team Academy on 29 Jan. The Programme was facilitated by faculty from the Harvard University's National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI).
40 senior officers from the SAF, Home Team agencies and nine ministries and statutory boards attended the intensive three-day Executive Course while 260 operational and staff officers from the SAF, Home Team, ministries, statutory boards and academics from local universities attended the half-day Seminar.
Participants of the three-day Course learnt, among other things, a highly practical Meta-Leadership framework that helps in their influence and decision making, leading their teams, leading across teams and leading upwards.
The framework was developed by NPLI using research data gleaned from interviews with government leaders who had dealt with large-scale crises.
One of the NPLI faculty, Mr. Richard Serino, former Deputy Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the United States, led the emergency response for over 60 major emergencies, including Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013. He shared his personal experiences with the captivated audience on how to mobilise not only the emergency services, but also the civilians to work in unison during a crisis.
During the three-day course, the participants got hands-on practice, through a table-top exercise, orchestrating inter-agency responses to various crisis scenarios such as terrorist attacks, cyber attacks and pandemics.
One of the Course participants from the SAF was Colonel (COL) Lee Kien Tian, Director of the National Maritime Operations Group.
The 44-year-old Navy officer is responsible for leading five agencies - the Navy, Police Coast Guards, Immigration and Checkpoint Authority, Singapore Customs, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore - in operations to keep Singapore waters safe.
He said the course and exercise had enabled him to do better planning, taking into consideration the working norms, and conflicting demands of the various agencies.
He explained: "In the event of a terrorist attack, how do you strike a balance between tightening security measures and preventing unnecessary disruption to normalcy?
"These are potentially conflicting demands. By knowing the considerations of each agency, we are able to put together a better Whole-of-Government response."
COL Daniel Seet, Director of Crisis Preparedness in the Ministry of Home Affairs' Joint Operations Group agreed, saying: "We learnt to ask the right questions and this, in turn, helps to shape the appropriate response that covers most, if not all, angles."
He added that learning alongside counterparts from various agencies had enabled him to better understand their operations, and build stronger relationships.
Influence and Leadership
This was, in fact, a key point highlighted by another NPLI faculty, Mr. Eric McNulty, Director of Research and Professional Programs at NPLI, who said it was important to build relationships during peace time.
"During a crisis, time is against you. You need influence and leadership to get things moving," he said.
One participant at the half-day Crisis Leadership Seminar was Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Wong Foo Chan, from the Naval Diving Unit, who works closely with the Police in underwater security screening for large-scale events such as the National Day Parade.
For him, the seminar was a reminder of the importance of good leadership. "In times of crisis, leadership - not management - takes centre stage. The demand for leadership is ramped up when we need to work with people from various places," he said.
Common Language
The Course and Seminar were organised to enable different government agencies to develop a "common language", said COL Fred Tan, Head of CLD, who noted that a Whole-of-Government approach was needed to tackle increasingly complex security challenges of the new operating environment.
Noting that feedback from the participants had been positive, COL Tan said the SAF would look into conducting more crisis leadership courses.
"There have been more crises and disasters in the region recently. I believe there is a demand for leadership skills in managing crises from a Whole-of-Government approach," he said.

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So WTF are the scholar generals for? Promote fake BG Mervyn Tan for Fuck?

http://www.mindef.gov.sg/content/imi...l#.Vq9T57J97Dc


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