Chief of Defence Force ( Singapore ) The Chief of Defence Force ( CDF ; ) of Singapore is the head of the Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ) , who holds the rank of three - star general or admiral . The position was created in 1974 as the Chief of General Staff with the appointment of Winston Choo , and re - titled to its current name in May 1990 . Prior to the appointment of Choo as Chief of General Staff , the Ministry of Defence ( and before that the Ministry of Interior and Defence ) was in charge of the Singapore Armed Forces . Before the position was created , the head of Singapore ' s army — which at that time made up the military — held the position of " director , general staff " . The President of Singapore has the power to appoint each new CDF ( as well as new heads of each of the three services in the SAF ) on the advice of the Prime Minister of Singapore , who in turn must consult with the Armed Forces Council , on which the CDF sits . The CDF also maintains a role as an aide - de - camp to the President . The position has been held by Major - General ( MG ) now Lieutenant - General Ng Chee Meng , the eighth CDF , since 27 March 2013 . Role . The CDF is the operational head of the SAF , and holds a seat on the Armed Forces Council which oversees all matters pertaining to the SAF . In addition , if any of the three service chiefs – the Chief of Army , Navy or Air Force – is unable to carry out his duties , the CDF is tasked to perform those duties in addition to his own . If the CDF is unable to perform his own duties , the Minister of Defence is allowed to select one of the three service chiefs to perform the CDF ' s duties . The office of CDF also carries with it a position as one of three full - time aides - de - camp to the President . According to the Singapore Presidential Office website , the position entails handling the President ' s security and his social needs , in addition to other general duties . A number of powers relating to summary trials for military offences is vested in the CDF . Title 2 , Section 62 of the Singapore Armed Forces Act states that any offence in which the accused holds the rank of Colonel or Military Expert 7 is to be referred to the CDF , who can then dismiss the charge , hold a summary trial , or pass the case on to the director of legal services of the SAF , who can in turn instruct the CDF to try the accused . As head of the SAF , the CDF often makes visits to countries with shared military interests , such as Bahrain , Japan , and Vietnam , and also occasionally hosts foreign military chiefs on official visits . Leadership of the SAF before 1990 . The role of the head of the SAF was titled " director , general staff " around 1969 , and was held by Brigadier T . J . D . Campbell , who had previously been head of the Singapore Defence Force and the Singapore Volunteer Corps before Singapore ' s independence . Campbell had been acting director since some time in 1968 . Colonel Kirpa Ram Vij was appointed his successor . According to sources , the position of " director , general staff " was considered " similar " to the position of the present - day CDF , and was equivalent to the head of army . A Straits Times report on Campbell ' s death refers to him as having been " army chief " . In 1974 , then - Colonel Winston Choo was given the appointment of chief of general staff , having previously been a departmental head at the Ministry of Defence . In May 1990 the position was re - titled to its current name , with Choo , now a Lieutenant - General , still in office . He had been promoted to each of the general ranks in 1974 , 1978 and 1988 . Choo stepped down in 1992 , after 18 years at the head of the SAF . Lee Kuan Yew , who was prime minister of Singapore in the 1970s , has described Goh Keng Swee as being the " de facto " armed forces chief of staff when the latter was Minister for Defence . Dr Goh is considered to be the founder of the modern SAF , having been responsible for developing the SAF as defence minister from 1965 – 1967 . Although Campbell and Vij have both held a position of similar authority , Choo is referred to as the first CDF in a number of MINDEF publications . In the past , there also existed a Deputy Chief of General Staff who was tasked to " [ work ] with troops on the ground " , but there is no deputy position for the present - day Chief of Defence Force in the structure of the Singapore Armed Forces . Chiefs of Defence Force since 1990 . Since the appointment of CDF was established in 1990 there have been seven holders of the position , beginning with Winston Choo who was already in office as Chief of General Staff . All seven previous office - holders have left military service . In their retirement citations from the Ministry of Defence ,