Even as the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) welcomed 52 newly commissioned officers, President David Granger reminded that the Force must continuously and consistently train persons to assume leadership roles.
The GDF, he said, through its training programmes, “must produce men and women who embody its core values.” The Commander-in-Chief made this disclosure as he presented Instruments of Commission to the ranks of the Standard Officers’ Course No. 50 and the Reserve Officers’ Course No. 16 yesterday.
“Training is the foundation of a professional and proficient Force. It is essential for ensuring the success of military missions; for enhancing operational effectiveness; and for developing physical endurance. Training is fundamental to military service and that is why your military service begins with a training course here at the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School (CUPOCS). Should training be neglected, standards would fall, troops’ morale would decline, and deviant behaviour would corrupt the Force’s members and corrode the competence of the Force,” President Granger said after presenting the instruments in accordance with the Defence Act.
Further, the Head of State said the GDF is building on its traditions and techniques of training in our local terrain – in our grasslands, in our highlands, in rainforests, in our wetlands, and in our waterways.
The GDF, he added, is instilling the values of duty, discipline, identity, integrity and, loyalty befitting officers and soldiers.
Duty, he said, obliges officers to display dedication in the performance of their functions. He also made it clear that discipline is the primary means of maintaining organisational cohesiveness while identity determines how officers view their comrades, their corps, and their country. Further, the President said that integrity demands honesty in officers’ relations with their superiors and subordinates even as loyalty binds officers to the service of their country.
Local training of officer cadets started 50 years ago in 1969 and the CUPOCS was established in September 1981.
Guyana has welcomed cadets from the Caribbean states of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, and St Kitts-Nevis over the past five decades. The Standard Officers’ Course (SOC), the President said, aims at inculcating the Force’s values and standards in cadets and to develop their power of command and leadership and their service to the country. The SOC has been improved continuously and now includes an enhanced academic programme and intensified jungle, paratrooper, and equitation training.
The Reserve Officers’ Course, he added, has been reintroduced after a hiatus of a decade. Members of the Guyana People’s Militia are active and receiving training in all 10 administrative regions so that they could respond effectively to the need for assistance, including in the disaster relief.
