– Coast Guard and Air Corps being beefed up

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF of the Armed Forces, President Donald Ramotar yesterday in his feature address during the opening of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) two-day Annual Officers’ Conference 2014 underscored the importance of integrity and commitment to duty, even as he warned against “associating with disreputable elements for financial rewards.”

In his address at the Officers’ Mess, Base Camp Ayanganna, he said, “I want to emphasise this as being very important, integrity and commitment to duty among all officers and ranks of the GDF. Conflict of interest must be avoided at all costs or when observed dealt with condignly. Zero-tolerance should be enforced (towards) officers and ranks frequenting facilities used by persons of questionable repute and associating with disreputable elements for financial rewards.”

President Ramotar added that the leadership of the GDF must be seen as setting the right example and not only exhorting their subordinates to perform while they themselves display other traits.

He encouraged ranks to upkeep the credibility of the army so that young and talented individuals will be willing to enlist for patriotic and selfless service and not for narrow, short-term reasons.

The president also stated that the government and citizens of Guyana expect all officers and ranks to perform their duties in accordance with high standards of discipline and professionalism.

Ramotar also declared that he was confident the army would be dynamic in the face of changing and evolving social, regional and hemispheric realities, particularly in the security sector. And he urged that this conference be utilised to develop such competencies to address the challenges ahead.

NEW PATROL VESSELS
Meanwhile, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces said he hoped that the new patrol vessels would help fight piracy and crimes in the gold and diamond-bearing interior.

“Our miners and fishermen must be able to pursue their activity without facing the possibility of raids in their camps, ambushes along interior trails and acts of piracy along our coastal fishing zone and I hope that the newly- acquired vessels that will be at your disposal shortly will go a far way in bringing some of these activities to an end,” said Ramotar.

He also announced that as part of efforts to boost the Air Corps, the GDF would shortly decide the fate of the troublesome large Bell 412 helicopter that experts say is best suited for search and rescue operations in Guyana’s rugged and densely forested interior.
“The Bell 412 helicopter will during March 2014 undergo a thorough and independent inspection in order to facilitate informed decision-making as to the future of that aircraft,” he said.
Ramotar disclosed that government would replace “on an affordable basis” the fixed and rotary wings of the Air Corps to improve its effectiveness, especially in the areas of search and rescue, medical evacuation and support of ground forces in border operations.

In his address, Chief of Staff (COS), Brigadier Mark Phillips, addressing his first conference as COS, declared that, “We must be ready to defend Guyana and not depend on third party protection of our sovereignty.”

The COS noted that for the past 48 years the army has sustained the integrity of Guyana and assisted in the maintenance of law and order when required to do so and also contributed to national development.

NEW ROLES
The Brigadier noted that virtually all governments require help to manage natural disasters and to deal with complex emergencies and with the advent of insurgency, illicit trafficking and terrorism, this placed enormous pressure on governments to use military forces for new missions and perhaps new roles. However, he said these new threats to national security have forced governments to blend military capabilities with civilian efforts to protect their society.

He added that the role and mission of the military must now be more dynamic than ever and the employment of the GDF in the defence and maintenance of order requires the officers and ranks to develop both a fighting mentality on one hand and a law enforcement mentality on the other.

Brigadier Phillips said also that the Coast Guard and Air Corps are being beefed up to assist in border patrols and internal security such as combating piracy and crimes in the interior. He disclosed that the army has acquired three vessels through the United States (US)-sponsored Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and the Guyana government has also purchased two additional vessels to beef up inland patrols.

He also announced that two more patrol boats have been purchased by the Guyana government and would be delivered to the Defence Force in July 2014.
The CBSI’s assistance has been provided under the rubric of combating transnational crimes like drugs and arms trafficking. Moves to improve the Coast Guard and Air Corps are also in keeping with recommendations by the Disciplined Forces Commission held several years ago to also suppress illegal fishing and smuggling of items to evade customs, Phillips said.

He noted that the commission had also cited the need for better arrangements for recruiting and retaining pilots and engineers in which 800 applications were received by the GDF for the Standard Officers’ Course this year which will start in March. The GDF acquired two Bell 206 helicopters.

Also making remarks were chairman Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Lee and 19-year-old newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Lawrence King, who delivered the vote of thanks yesterday, during the opening ceremony of the Annual Officers’ Conference under the theme: “Towards greater operational readiness for national defence and security”.

Present also at the ceremony yesterday were heads of the Disciplined Services and Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.

(By Michel Outridge)