Tan Kim Peng Clarence

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Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Tan Kim Peng Clarence is a retired officer of the Singapore Armed Forces. He is mostly associated with his work in building up the Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation during its infancy and early years.

[edit] Military career

LTC Tan's military career began as a volunteer of the Singapore Military Force in 1960, and attained the rank of Second Lieutenant after completing the Officer Cadet Course conducted at the Federation Military College in Malaysia. He served as a platoon commander in the 1st Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment (1 SIR), and conducted his duties in Sabah and Taiping in Malaysia during the Konfrontasi period till 1965, where he was posted to various appointments, including in the Malaysian Special Operations Force.^{[citation needed]} In June 1967, he, together with Second Lieutenant Chan Seck Sung, were the first two Commandos to attend the U.S. Army Rangers and Airborne courses at Fort Benning, United States. He was promoted to the rank of Captain while in the United States.

In 1967, he was tasked to begin recruiting eligible candidates for the new Singapore Armed Forces Regular Battalion, the precursor of the 1st Commando Battalion. He was promoted to the rank of Major in April 1969, and became the Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment a year later. He returned as Commanding Officer of the SAF Regular Battalion in January 1971, and continued to do so when the unit was renamed as 1st Commando Battalion till June 1978. During this time, he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

He was transferred from the 1st Commando Battalion to the 5th Singapore Infantry Brigade, but once again was re-associated with the Commandos when he became the Commandant of the new Commando Formation in 1981, a post he held till 1988 when he was Defence Attache in Australia prior to this retirement in 1992.