Lieutenant General Winston Choo Wee Leong is a retired Singaporean general who served as the first Chief of Defence Force of the Singapore Armed Forces from 1974 to 1992. He is currently Singapore's ambassador to Israel.
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Choo enlisted in the Singapore Military Forces in December 1959. He completed his officer cadet training at the Federation Military College in Port Dickson and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in December 1961. He was sent to the 1st Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment (1 SIR), where he served as platoon commander of ‘C’ Company. During his time with 1 SIR, he was deployed to Sebatik Island in Borneo between 1963 and 1964, during the Confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia; as well as to assist with domestic security operations in Singapore such as street patrolling during the 1964 racial riots.
He was the battalion signals officer at the time of Singapore's independence in August 1965. In the same year, he was appointed the first military Aide-de-Camp to President Yusof bin Ishak, and then recalled to the SAF in 1966. When the 1st Signal Battalion was formed in 1967, he was Commanding Officer from 1967 to 1968. He attended the Long Telecommunications Course at the School of Signals in the United Kingdom from 1968 to 1969, returning to Singapore to serve as Second-in-Command of 1st Signal Battalion (BN 2IC). In 1970, he was appointed Chief of Communications and Electronics (now known as the Chief of Signals).
In 1971, he served briefly as Commanding Officer of 4th Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment (4 SIR) before attending the Command and General Staff College at Fort Canning. The following year, he became the first Singaporean to attend the 11-month US Army Command and General Staff course at Fort Leavenworth. Upon returning to Singapore in September 1972, he took up command of 1 SIR. In the same year, he was named an honorary Aide-de-Camp to President Benjamin Sheares; became the youngest [[Colonel] in the SAF at the age of 31; and took up command of the 2nd Singapore Infantry Brigade (2 SIB). He was later posted to the Ministry of Defence headquarters, where he was appointed Head of Training and Head of Organisation and Plans in 1973. In 1974, he succeeded Brigadier Kirpa Ram Vij as Director of General Staff.
In 1976, the position was renamed and he became Chief of the General Staff. In the same year, at the age of 35, he became the youngest officer to rise to the rank of Brigadier-General. Two years later, he was the first professional soldier in the SAF to reach the rank of Major General.
In May 1981, Choo was closely involved in organising the funeral of President Benjamin Sheares. Several months later, he left for the United States, where he completed a Masters degree. During his absence, Brigadier-General Tan Chin Tiong was appointed Acting Chief of the General Staff. Choo resumed command upon his return to Singapore in 1982.
In 1988, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General, becoming Singapore’s first three-star general. When the position of Chief of the General Staff was renamed in May 1990, he became the first Chief of Defence Force (CDF). He retired from the SAF on 30 June 1992.
He served as Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia and Fiji between 1994 and 1997.[1] He also served as Singapore's High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea and South Africa between 2000 and 2006. During this stretch time, he was also the volunteer Chairman of the Singapore Red Cross for 12 years till 2008.
He is currently Singapore's non-resident Ambassador to Israel.[2]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ministry of Interior and Defence |
1st Chief of Defence Force 1974 - 1992 |
Succeeded by Lt. Gen. Ng Jui Ping |