COMMANDER-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Guyana, President Donald Ramotar will, on Monday, confer the appointment of Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) on Brigadier Mark Phillips in the Credentials Room of the Office of the President in Georgetown.

This was disclosed by Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon yesterday during his usual post-Cabinet press briefing.
Brigadier Phillips will succeed Rear Admiral Gary Best as GDF Chief of Staff. The ceremonial handing over of this appointment to Phillips will take place on Tuesday, September 17, at Camp Ayanganna.
Rear Admiral Gary Best served in that capacity for six years.
Meanwhile, the recently promoted Brigadier Phillips promises to bring professionalism to the GDF during his tenure at the helm.
President Ramotar expects Brigadier Phillips to continue working hard to develop the GDF into a strong and professional body.
Brigadier Phillips successfully completed the 50th Advanced Course in Hemispheric Defence and Security at the Inter-American Defence College at Fort McNair in Washington D.C. during the academic year 2010-2011.
The college is an international educational institution operating under the aegis of the Organisation of American States (OAS) to provide a multi-disciplinary, graduate-level course of study for senior military and civilian officers.
It is a rigorous one-year course that aids in comprehensively understanding governmental systems, the current international environment, the Inter-American system, and security issues affecting the Western Hemisphere and the world.
Brigadier Phillips, a native of Linden, attended the Christianburg Primary School and the Christianburg/Wismar Secondary School (Multilateral School) prior to joining the GDF in December 1980.
As a graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, in the United Kingdom in 1981, Brigadier Phillips served the GDF in several junior and senior level appointments over the past three decades.