Desmond Kuek Bak Chye

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Lieutenant General Desmond Kuek Bak Chye (Simplified Chinese: 郭木财中将) is the current Chief of Defence Force (CDF) (b. 28 August 1963) of the Singapore Armed Forces. He received this appointment effective from 23 March 2007, taking over from Lieutenant General Ng Yat Chung, and relinquishing his then-appointment as Chief of Army (COA) on 20 March 2007.^[1] On 28 June 2007, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, effective 1 July 2007.^[2] He is married to Claudel Elizabeth Kuek, and has two children.

[edit] Education

Kuek joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) on 21 December 1981 after completing his studies at Anglo-Chinese School and Anglo-Chinese Junior College, and was awarded the prestigious SAF Overseas Scholarship in 1982.^[3] He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Hons) (Engineering Science) and a Master of Arts Degree (Engineering Science) from the University of Oxford, UK. He also holds a Master of Public Administration Degree (Macro Economics, Statistics) from Harvard University, USA.^[1]

Kuek received his military training in Singapore as well as in the USA and UK. In 1985, he attended the Infantry Officer Basic Course in Fort Benning, Georgia, USA, where he was awarded the Distinguished Allied Leadership Graduate. He completed Armoured Reconnaissance Officer Cadet Course and Armour Officer Advanced Course subsequently. He also topped both the Company Tactics Course and Battalion Tactics Course conducted locally at SAFTI. He has completed Basic Airborne Course and Underwater Diving Course. In 1991, he attended the Command and Staff Course at Camberley Staff College, United Kingdom; after completing a series of junior command and instructional appointments in Armour, as well as a staff appointment in the Joint Operations and Planning Directorate.^[1]

[edit] Career

In the course of his military career, Gen Kuek went on to command the 41st Singapore Armoured Regiment in 1992, the 4th Singapore Armoured Brigade in 1994 and the 3rd Singapore Combined Arms Division in 1998. He also held command of the 54th Singapore Armoured Brigade, an operationally ready National Service Brigade, for a major overseas exercise in 1993. He has also held a number of key staff appointments in the Ministry of Defence and SAF. As Head of the Defence Studies Department in the Ministry’s Policy Office from 1993-94, he was responsible for defence policy research and information management. As the Assistant Chief of General Staff (for Operations) from 1995-97, he contributed to the high level of operational readiness and planning in the Army. He was appointed the Director of the Joint Intelligence Directorate in the SAF from November 2000 to March 2003, and concurrently held the appointment of Chief of Staff (General Staff) from Sep 2002 to March 2003.^[1]

Gen Kuek also held concurrently the appointment of Military Personal Secretary to the Minister for Defence for two years from 1989 to 1991; and was an Honorary Aide de Camp to the President of Singapore from 1992 to 1994. In 2000, he chaired the Executive Committee to organise the millennium National Day celebrations, which included the National Day Parade at the Padang, the Carnival at Marina Bay and the Maritime Review – a series of events commended by the President as “a stupendous success”.[1] He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Military) (Gold) in 2002.^[4]

Before assuming the post of Chief of Defence Force, Gen Kuek was appointed Chief of Army on 1 April 2003. As COA, he steered the Army towards organisational excellence, transforming its force structure to enhance operational efficiency and eliciting peak performance from servicemen through the L.I.V.E (Leadership and Learning, Image and Identity, Values and positive Experience) movement. He significantly improved the Army's combat capability, especially in the areas of command and control, firepower and urban operations.^[1]