59 Military officers complete Junior Staff course

The Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) has presented Staff Course certificates to 59 personnel who participated in the 75th Junior Staff course in Accra.

The graduands comprised 48 Ghanaians from the Ghana Army, the Ghana Navy and the Ghana Air Force, and a personnel each from The Gambia and Liberia, as well as nine others from Nigeria. Also included were two personnel from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

They underwent a 20-week training, which included analytical and communication skills, internal security and counter insurgency, as well as programmes on national and international issues.

They also presented long essays known as Assistant Commandant’s Paper, as part of the course, facilitated by lecturers from the University of Ghana, the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and other selected state agencies.

Awards

Some of the graduates were also honoured for their outstanding performance during the course.

They included Lt Commander Edem Akati from the Ghana Navy, who received the Overall Best Student Award, with Major Edem Kwame Gamor from the Ghana Army and Lt Commander Mohammed Mubarak Tahiru, also from the Ghana Navy, emerging as the first and second runners-up respectively.

Major Bo Torgbor of the Ghana Army Assistant Commandant’s paper was adjudged the best, with Sqn Ldr SKNN Dowuona’s paper as the second best.

A former Commandant of the college, Air Vice Marshal Issifu Sakib Kadri (retd), was also presented with a plaque for his effort in ensuring the college attain a world-class status during his tenure in office.

Commendation

The Assistant Commandant of the College, Brigadier General A. K. Dawohoso, commended the officers for successfully completing the course in spite of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the college had to put in place measures to ensure that students went through strict COVID-19 protocols on arrival which included a test for all them.

He said that ensured that those who tested negative were allowed to have contact lessons in syndicate rooms whereas those who tested positive were quarantined in their rooms and received tuition virtually.

Rationale

Brig. Gen. Dawohoso said the junior division of the college was aimed at training officers to staff functions by developing their leadership skills.

In view of that, the Assistant Commandant of the college said only students who were able to prove their ability and met the course standards were being awarded with the “JSC” symbol which signified that they had passed the Junior Staff Course.

Emerging threats

Air Vice Marshal Kadri, also commended the leadership of the college for successfully organising the course in spite of the challenges posed by the pandemic.

He said that it had afforded the officers the opportunity to broaden their professional and general perspectives on matters of both national and international dimensions.

He reminded the officers about the current and emerging threats posed by transnational organised, civil unrests and terrorism.

Air Vice Marshal Kadri noted that although they seemed to have been overshadowed by the pandemic, they were persisting and required a multifaceted approach since no single institution could successfully handle it.

“I am happy that the course has participants from sister African countries who I believe have shared their experiences on how their respective countries are dealing with the prevailing threats and the pandemic.

“It is my hope that they learnt a few positive lessons from the Ghanaian approach and will share those lessons back home,” Air Vice Marshall Kadri said.