CDS visits Jungle Warfare School

Akim Achiase (E/R), June 21, GNA - The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Lt. Gen. Peter Augustine Blay, has given the assurance that the Military High Command would soon supply new aircraft, ships, vehicles and

accoutrements to the Ghana Airforce, Navy and the Army to ensure effectiv e surveillance of the country's oilfields, among other major activities. He urged troops in the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to be resolute in th e performance of their assigned duties, especially internal security and counter insurgency as the country goes commercial in its oil find at the close of the year. Lt. Gen. Blay was addressing 12 officers and 240 other ranks at the Seth Anthony Barracks at Akim Achiase in the Eastern Region, when he paid a day's working visit to the Jungle Warfare School. He was accompanied by staff from the General Headquarters and Real Admiral Munir Tahiru Mohamme d, Commandant of the Military Academy and Training Schools (MATS). "Readiness, initiative, loyalty, physical fitness and expert handlin g of weapons are the hallmark of GAF," he said, adding a dedicated solider must be disciplined and law-abiding. He, therefore, called on men and officers of GAF to work diligently to justify their professionalism. He noted that the oil find would certainly attract all manners of people into the country to do brisk business, but cautioned that the military would not sit down unconcerned to watch unscrupulous persons cas h in to disturb the peace of the nation. Lt. Gen. Blay explained that courses offered in the School gave credence to its capability in jungle warfare training in the sub-region a nd that the High Command was considering how upstream such training could go , while he also noted that present day wars had been shifted from the jungl e and are being fought in the cities and urban centre.

Responding to requests for the logistic requirements of the School, the CDS assured the troops that the Military High Command was doing everythin g possible to provide the school with decent accommodation befitting its status; it would also fix a faulty borehole and repair a deplorable culve rt at the barracks. He described the administration of the School as excellent and also commended the Command for attending DISEC Sessions and moving outside its

assigned jurisdiction into other neighbouring districts, because of proximity, to help control crisis. Briefing the CDS and his entourage on operational matters, Lt. Col. Nicholas Peter Andoh, Commander of the School, said his troops swiftly mo ved with the Police to Akim Swedru to curb a chieftaincy-related violence. Th ey had also been able to seize a total of 4,663 pieces of lumber from illega l operators, while on another occasion they moved in to stop an electoral violence at Akwatia in the Kwaebibirem District. He mentioned some of the core subjects offered by the School as Jungle/Tactics, Marksmanship, Intelligence, First Aid, Communications, Navigation and Swimming. He appealed to the GAF Administration to construct a swimming pool fo r the school to assist in the training of the Navy, since the school uses t he pool at the Ntiamoah Hotel at Akim Oda for such training. "The school continues to attract foreign participation, customized o r in-house course that aim at solving specific corporate needs," he said, a nd listed the BNI, Police and other security agencies that benefit from shor t courses in the school. "Training is our business in this regard, and we have enough evidenc e that customized training pays," he said, adding that at the end of the courses, participants are able to demonstrate improved awareness of the importance of inter-functional and inter-personal relations for organisational effectiveness and also discuss methods of effective decision-making under various circumstances.