Seventy-six student officers, on Friday, graduated from the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), Junior Division, after undergoing 20 weeks progressive career junior staff course (JSC) 83.
They were made up of 68 officers from the Ghana Armed Forces, three from the Botswana Defence Forces, one from the Armed Forces of Liberia, and four from the Armed Forces from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as well as one Defence Civilian Staff of GAF.
The aim of the junior staff course was to train selected officers to perform staff functions by developing their leadership, analytical, and communication skills while providing the foundation for their subsequent career development.
The graduands were conferred with post graduate Diploma in Defence and Security Studies by the Acting President of National Defence University, Air Vice Marshal Felix Adom Asante and the symbol of the JSC by the Acting Commandant of the GAFCSC, Brigadier General Jackson Wonje.
The conferment of the JSC symbol signified that the graduands had passed the junior staff course successfully.
The former Assistant Commandant of the Junior Division of the GAFCSC and guest of honour, Brigadier General Mike. N. Akpatsu Jnr (rtd) urged the graduands to always stay vigilant and well-prepared to effectively tackle future challenges they may face as military officers.
He commended course participants from neighbouring African countries, saying that, “Your continuous participation in the programmes of the college tests to our collective quest to achieve integration at the continental level.”
The Assistant Commandant of the Junior Division of the GAFCSC, Brigadier General Kwesi Ayima, who delivered the academic report, said the graduands, as part of the experimental study package of the GAFCSC, undertook a study tour to the Bono East Region, to research into existing challenges that militated development of that Region.
The thematic areas, he said, were the farmer-herder conflict, electoral related violence, and the impact of land administration in the Bono East Region.
The other areas were the assessment of agro processes potentials on food security, examination of chieftaincy disputes in Bono East Region for enhanced economic development, and the enhancement of tourism potential in the Bono East Region.
The officers, Brigadier General Ayima said, also participated in a two-week internal security and counter-insurgency programme designed to equip the officers and officers from sister security agencies with the knowledge and skills to manage internal security operations and engage effectively with the media at the command level.
He added that research findings had already been compiled into a comprehensive report and would be submitted to the GAF headquarters for necessary action.
Brigadier General Ayima thanked the resource persons, including lecturers from public universities, for their continuous support of the programmes of the junior division of the GAFCSC.
Captain Timothy K. Oklu was adjudged the overall best student and was awarded with a Samsung tablet, a plaque, and a book, while Captain Peter K. Dawaye and Captain Godfred Boakye placed second and third, respectively.
Flight Lieutenant Kafayat O. Sanni from the Federal Republic of Nigeria won both the Best Commandant’s Paper and the Best Allied Student, while Major G. E. Gbekle and Flight Lieutenant Paul O. Onu placed second and third.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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