President Kabbah At Military Passing-out For Cadets and Recruits
By Yusuf Alghali

Following due consultations, Chief of Defence Staff Major General Tom Carew and his deputy, Commodore Sesay are to be re-assigned to other positions outside the army with effect from 1st December, 2003, President Ahmad Tejan disclosed in a statement Thursday at the military Passing-out Parade at Benguema marking the commissioning of direct entry officers and recruits.

As a result of these reassignments, Brigadier Sam Mboma will be nominated to Parliament for appointment to the position of Chief of Defence Staff, while the name of the new Deputy Chief of Defence Staff will be announced after further consultation.

President Kabbah, Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), informed the gathering of senior military officers and other ranks that General Carew and Commodore Sesay were "in total agreement with the decision affecting them and are looking forward with keen interest to taking up their new assignments".

He also took the opportunity to express to General Carew and Commodore Sesay thanks and gratitude on behalf of the nation for their "distinguished and exemplary services rendered to the nation over the years". He thus called on new entrants and passing-out recruits to emulate the military prowess, patriotism and loyalty of these two gentlemen.

Some 89 recruits and 18 officers pursued the Direct Entry Commissioning and Recruit course for a six-month duration. The first three months saw both the officers and recruits undergoing the same training. During the remaining period, officers embarked on commissioning and leadership training whilst the recruits continued with the recruit training.

The training programme is designed to provide well-trained officers and soldiers capable of undertaking operational duties at company level within the RSLAF. The course objective was therefore designed to include field craft and tactics, skills-at-arms, education, range walk drill, First Aid, map reading, physical fitness and training on elements of Jungle warfare. Also included in the training programme are lessons on personal hygiene, history of the RSLAF, structure of RSLAF, religious worship, military law, laws of armed conflict, rules of engagement, code of conduct and HIV/AIDS and STDs. The six month intensive course for the officers cadet should amply equip the trainees with the required leadership skills at junior command level.

President Kabbah maintained that the development of the human resource base of any institution was a key factor in the enhancement of its capability. "Aware of the challenges facing the RSLAF as an institution", he said, "government through the Ministry of Defence had put in place a strategic plan of action that would be executed in phases in response to the RSLAF training needs."

Earlier, the eighteen cadet officers formed up for a brief pipping ceremony, as Officer Cadet Kelfala K.E.L and Officer Cadet Fofanah A.T received awards from President Kabbah for best academic cadet officer and most outstanding cadet officer respectively. Regrettably, one other recruit and an instructor lost their lives in a tragic accident that occurred during the just concluded training exercise.

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