Outgoing CDS urges forces to stay ahead of emerging threats
The immediate past Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Lieutenant-General Peter Augustine Blay, has called on personnel of the GAF to constantly put in place measures to “stay far ahead of emerging threats and risks”.
According to him, the security agencies must continuously scan the local environment and the world to be able to provide the needed peace, stability and security for accelerated development.
He was speaking at his pull-out and handover ceremony last Friday at Burma Camp.
During his military career, he held various positions at both command and staff levels.
In Ghana, he served with the First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Infantry battalions and the Jungle Warfare School.
Lt Gen Blay also served at the Headquarters of the First Infantry Brigade Group, the Army Combat Training School, the GAF Command and Staff College, the Army Headquarters and the General Headquarters.
He further served on several peacekeeping missions, including serving as the Defence Platoon Commander and Operations Officer of the Ghana Battalion in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from 1979-1980.
Between 2006 and 2009, he was the Defence Advisor at the Ghana High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, the last appointment he held prior to assuming duty as CDS on March 31, 2009.
Lt Gen Blay thanked the President and Commander-in-Chief of the GAF and the government for giving him the opportunity to serve Ghana at the highest level and also offering immense support during his tenure of office.
He described the new CDS, Vice-Admiral Matthew Quashie, as an accomplished and experienced naval officer and entreated personnel of the GAF to accord the new CDS the same support they had offered him.
On receiving the Staff of Authority, Vice-Admiral Quashie said it would be easier to continue from where Lt Gen Blay had ended.
According to him, he would always work with the team to maintain a high level of professionalism in the GAF.
Story: Mary Ampeh