SHAH ALAM: The Joneses…The Singapore Armed Forces formally stood up its fourth service – the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) – on Friday (Oct 28). The DIS was set up to integrate the SAF’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) and cyber capabilities in dealing with a wide spectrum of external threats, including those in the digital domain.
If this was the Malaysian Armed Forces, this means the merging of the Malaysian Defence Intelligence Organisation (MDIO) with the Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Division (BSEP) which was set up in January 2019. This has been talk in the military of the merging of both organisation but nothing has been made official.
Anyhow, at the DIS ceremony, Singapore President Halimah Yacob conferred on the DIS its State Colours, which promotes a sense of identity and pride among the servicemen and women of the DIS and symbolises their loyalty to the Service. President Halimah also presented the letter of appointment to the Chief of Digital and Intelligence Service Brigadier-General (BG) Lee Yi-Jin.
BG Lee, 42, who joined the SAF in 1999, has served in various command appointments, including Commanding Officer of the 21st Battalion Singapore Artillery, Commander of the 3rd Singapore Infantry Brigade and Commander of the 6th Singapore Division and Headquarters Sense and Strike.
During the whole-of-nation fight against COVID-19, BG Lee oversaw contact tracing operations as Commander of the Health Surveillance Task Force in 2020. He has also held various key staff appointments, including as Assistant Chief of the General Staff (Plans) and Group Chief Policy and Strategy at the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF).
As the Director of Military Intelligence and Chief of the C4I community, BG Lee laid the foundations for the establishment of the DIS, playing an instrumental role in charting out its mission, defining its role within the SAF, and designing the DIS’ organisational and manpower structure.
— Malaysian Defence