Top image courtesy of MINDEF
The movies make it look easy—war, danger, and the sharp adrenaline of survival, all set to the perfect score. Band of Brothers, Crimson Tide, Top Gun—stories of grit and heroism wrapped in cinematic glow and over-the-top action sequences.
But for every person who loves these tales on screen, the very idea of stepping into those combat boots as a career is met with a very different kind of realism.
It’s understandable—signing on to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) doesn’t feel like a natural next step. For many, national service is already a mandatory obligation, a duty to fulfil before any ‘true’ career can unfold. So when it’s already a civic duty to serve, what compels a Singaporean son to make the military a full-time job?
For those who do, the answer lies in the depth of the commitment. They put their name on the dotted line because it presents an opportunity to shape one’s identity and career in ways few other sectors can.
In the vibrant patchwork of Singapore’s military, roles vary as widely as the landscapes these men navigate. On land, sea, air, or even cyberspace, the SAF encompasses much more than boots on the ground or vessels beneath the water.
For Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Goh Koon Leong Joshua of Our Singapore Army, Major (MAJ) Russell Ewe Yuhang of the Republic of Singapore Navy, and Military Expert (ME4) Lee Dao Ming of The Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS), their combined 33 years of service reflect the multifaceted reality of the SAF—a world few civilians understand beyond their mandatory two-year stint.
From Reel to Real
Despite the varied paths, each of them share one common thread: they grew up on action movies. For MAJ Russell, Crimson Tide and Top Gun were the childhood classics that sparked his imagination. He gleefully corrects a common misconception: “Top Gun isn’t an Air Force film. It’s Navy. Navy aviators.”
Yet, it wasn’t the Hollywood drama that reeled him into military life. Surprisingly, it was a chess game—the visual centrepiece of an old recruitment ad for the Navy. He recounts how the intercutting of a naval battle with a chessboard lit something in him: the tactical allure of military life.
“There was this idea that it’s not all about physical fitness; there’s some brains and smarts behind it,” he says.
It’s easy to imagine why. The ad captures something primal—the thrill of command, the anticipation of calculated risk, and the intoxicating dance between logic and action.
MAJ Russell wasn’t just swayed by the glamour. What lured him was the mental sharpness that underpins the battlefield—the strategy behind the brawn.
But, of course, the allure of living out a scene from a movie is undeniable. “I get to see views and seascapes not everyone gets to see,” he says.
As part of the elite crew that will operate Singapore’s Invincible-class submarines, his command post is miles away from the noise and bustle of the world above. It’ll bring him to places few can imagine, gliding through the currents of a world submerged with nothing but the hum of technology and the men he trusts around him.
LTC Joshua, on the other hand, took another road.
For him, the trenches aren’t metaphorical. His reality is days spent in the sweltering jungles, battling mosquitoes and fatigue, digging shell scrapes at 2 AM. Just another day in the office for someone who’s spent 14 years in the infantry, rising through the ranks.
And yet, when you ask him why (why choose this hard, gritty life when corporate air-conditioning beckons with equal stability and better hours?), he just smiles.
“It’s precisely because it’s tough; that’s why it’s meaningful.”
For LTC Joshua, the sacrifice is not just physical discomfort. It’s a conscious choice to be part of something bigger than himself. The shared camaraderie, the endurance through hardship—it’s not for glory or personal gain.
It’s for the very human, very simple fact that some things are worth more than comfort: duty.
War Without Guns
Then there’s ME4 Lee Dao Ming, whose battlefield looks nothing like the movies. His adversary is invisible, his weapons digital, and his terrain is one we are all familiar with: cyberspace.
As a member of The Digital and Intelligence Service, his job is to defend Singapore from the invisible threats that lurk behind firewalls and encrypted codes. Cybersecurity is a 24/7 job, he explains, and the stakes are as high as any battlefield engagement.
For ME4 Dao Ming, defending our nation’s cyber infrastructure offers him a sense of purpose that the tech industry can’t offer.
As someone who studied business analytics, he watched his peers graduate and go on to work in this highly competitive, high-paying industry. But money isn’t everything. The work at DIS is about safeguarding the systems that Singapore runs on.
It’s about ensuring no cyber-attacks paralyse essential services—no WarGames scenario, no breaches that will plunge a nation into chaos.
“You can see the value of the work you’re doing in protecting our systems. That’s the meaning and purpose part of it,” he reflects.
“We are doing important work every day.”
Bonds Forged in Iron
The deeper you dig into their stories, the clearer it becomes: the appeal of military life isn’t about the romanticism of heroism or the glory of command. It’s about something far more elusive—human connection.
It’s the shared laughter over a botched drill, the unspoken camaraderie that grows through hardship, and the unbreakable bonds formed in the crucible of military life. The best moments people might remember about their time in National Service get amplified on a daily basis.
LTC Joshua remembers one such moment when his men surprised him. He had NSFs who were injured and couldn’t participate in combat exercises. Believing every soldier should do their part as much as possible, he gave them a simple task: monitor the casualty count in the headquarters.
It was a win-win—he received more accurate reports on the status of his forces while letting the injured NSFs be fully included in the exercise.
What he didn’t expect was a detailed honour board complete with photos, write-ups on their fall in battle, and even stars for the soldiers who were declared as ‘KIA’ multiple times.
“Needless to say, during the next mission, a lot of people stayed alive,” he laughs.
For MAJ Russell, who’s accustomed to the disciplined isolation of submarine life, even something as simple as being featured on MINDEF’s TikTok page brought him unexpected joy.
“I’m just happy to be featured on TikTok,” he says, embracing the lighter side of military life.
Beyond the Service
For these men, the military is not just a career but a foundation for life. Their journeys have taken them beyond Singapore’s shores, literally and metaphorically. Through The SAF Scholarship, all three had the chance to study abroad, broadening their worldviews in ways they could never have imagined.
MAJ Russell shares how, during his time in London, two terrorist attacks took place—a salient reminder that security shouldn’t be taken for granted. “It helped contextualise the work I’m doing and made it very real,” he says.
As an SAF scholar, ME4 Dao Ming also attends public service events and leadership programmes. He highlights the importance of experiencing both sides of public service in and out of the military.
Being a Command, Control, Communications, Computers Expert (C4X), he’s often sent on courses as part of the continuous development of the SAF values.
“These are industry-recognised cyber qualifications and expertise,” he mentions. “We have a lot of links with the industry, and they do recognise and value the expertise that the SAF brings.”
On his end, LTC Joshua pursued a master’s degree in Science and Security in the UK, where he had the chance to interact with government officials and war veterans, learning from diverse perspectives in and out of the military.
After completing his battalion command tour, he took on the opportunity to transition to a secondment at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), working as a Deputy Director in the Workplace Strategy Division, overseeing three diverse policy portfolios: Employment Standards, Foreign Worker Management, and International Relations.
It has broadened his horizons, allowing him to apply the intellectual rigour, leadership skills, and resilience he has honed in the SAF in another Ministry. While the steep learning curve involved in the shift from military to civilian work was significant, LTC Joshua counts such an opportunity as an invaluable experience.
“The can-do, mission spirit is ingrained in all SAF officers, so our resilience and ability to adapt in any situation to resolve any problem has been a welcome attribute when jumping into the deep end of unfamiliar but exciting work!”
While the work at MOM is different, the focus on camaraderie remains the same.
“People are at the heart of what we do. That’s what gives me purpose.”
Pride, Purpose, and People
Beyond the headlines, beyond the strategy and the training, their motivation boils down to something simple: People. Their answers are uniform in this.
For all the glory the movies promise, it’s the everyday moments that define why they serve.
It’s not just about the stability of a government job—though that certainly plays a part—it’s about something more elusive: pride, purpose, and a sense of belonging. These are things we may not articulate often.
It’s also about the bonds they’ve formed with their fellow servicemen and the responsibility they feel toward the men and women they serve with.
From handshakes after a particularly tough military exercise to the relationships built through shared experiences, the reasons why they serve go beyond a sense of purpose.
LTC Joshua says it best: “Even though I have men, each soldier is one to me”.
The friendships formed in the trenches, the collective sense of duty to protect Singapore, the future they’re helping to secure. This is what makes their service meaningful.
That’s why they sign on.
