Staff officers - S1 to S4- part 2

Further elaboration on the task and duties of the S1 to S4.

S1- As Manpower Officer, he is in charge of all related human resource matters such as pay and discipline. Since discipline is under his charge, he commands the military police who in war, are those who control enemy prisoners of war. During battles, he is in charge of monitoring each sub-units' current strength and feeding reinforcements to them.

S2- As intelligence officer, he receives information about enemy forces and intentions. He assists the commander in working out likely enemy plans. An important part of his duties is giving detailed reports to the commander about the battlefield such as terrain and obstacles. In battle, he will feed information from the reconnaisance forces under his charge about the enemy to his commander. In peacetime, he often does not have much to do so he is often allocated miscellaneous tasks.

S3 - As Operations Officer, he is perhaps the most important staff officer. His task are to help the commander work out the battle plan and to modify and adapt it when necessary.

S4 - As Logistics Officer, he is in charge of the materials and equipment of the unit. He has to ensure that the soldiers are well equipped with consumables like food, ammunition and fuel. He has to monitor equipment levels of sub-units. During battle, he has to arrange for the setting up of supply points, and the replenishment of sub-units and the evacuation of casualties.

It should be noted that the S1 to S4 although accountable to their commander, also report to the higher formations' S1 to S4 respectively. For example, the battalion S4 will also report to the brigade S4.

Staff officers : S1 to S4

Staff officers are specialist advisers to a commander, for example, a battalion commander.
These specialist officers are -
S1 - the manpower officer.
S2 - the intelligence officer
S3 - the operations officer
S4 - the logistic officer.

Each of the above officers will normally have a small groups of officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) to assist him in his work.

At the battalion and brigade level, the terms S1 to S4 are used. At the Division level or higher, the terms G1 to G4 are used to replace the terms S1 to S4.

Operations and Exercises

An Exercise is a training mission. Unlike normal training which might focus on one skill at a time, an exercise is usually a simulated real life environment where the soldiers are tested on a wide variety of skills. For example, an exercise involving a platoon attack will train the soldiers in individual field craft, while those appointed as leaders in the exercise will be assessed on their leadership and tactics.

An Operation, on the other hand, is carried out in a war or real-life situation. Worldwide, the most famous operation might be Operation Desert Storm which involved the US military forces in the Middle East. In Singapore, Operations are rare. One such Operation is Operation Thunderbolt in 1991 where the Singapore Commandos stormed a hijacked airliner SQ117 and shot dead four hijackers without loss of hostage life.