PUBLISHED ONNovember 03, 2026 1:46 PMBYSean LerPresident Tharman Shanmugaratnam visited the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) youngest service — the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) on Tuesday (Nov 3).
The visit to the DIS' Open Source Unit (OSU) also marks his inaugural unit visit to the SAF, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said on Tuesday.
According to a MINDEF factsheet, the unit supports the SAF by monitoring news and information relating to global military and security developments, as well as natural disasters in the region.
It explained that the SAF's situational awareness is enhanced by keeping abreast of developments in the evolving information landscape, thereby enabling commanders to make timely, well-informed decisions in response to developments at home and abroad, while contributing to broader national security efforts.
The President was hosted by the DIS chief Major-General Lee Yi-Jin, along with Chief of Defence Force Vice-Admiral Aaron Beng and other senior SAF officers.
During the visit, President Tharman was briefed on the DIS and its Joint Intelligence Command, including its role in providing accurate, relevant and timely intelligence for early warning and decision-making for SAF's operations.
He observed demonstrations of OSU’s monitoring operations and engaged its service personnel, including full-time national servicemen and operationally ready national servicemen.
Said President Tharman: "The DIS plays a more important role than ever, as digital threats can only be expected to grow in frequency, scale and sophistication. I commend our service personnel for their efforts to continually stay abreast of developments and keep the nation safe."
The DIS was officially inaugurated at a parade officiated by then-President Halimah Yacob on Oct 28, 2022.
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