Kirpa Ram Vij: The Volunteer Who Launched An Army

For the first 10 years of its history, one soldier dominated the build-up of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Mobilized by Defence Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee when Singapore was expelled from Malaysia on 9 August 1965, Kirpa Ram Vij, then a captain in the Singapore Volunteer Artillery, established the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI) with Israeli Defence Force advisors. Together with them, he also formulated many of the early SAF operational doctrines together with policies which still underly the training of SAF land forces' commissioned and non-commissioned leaders. He launched advanced leadership training establishments including the School of Advanced Training for Officers (SATO) and the Dr Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College. He attained the then top uniformed appointment of Director, General Staff, in the rank of Brigadier General. In 1974 he opted to be repatriated to his primary vocation as a Singapore government administrative service officer, and among others, served with distinction as Singapore's first Ambassador to Egypt. Kirpa Ram died on 29 October 2022.This book traces the life story of Kirpa Ram Vij and his contributions to the SAF.