CHIEF of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier General Mark Phillips, on Wednesday officially declared open Standard Officers Course (SOC) No. 49, wherein 23 officer cadets are currently undergoing training at the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School (CUPOCS) at Base Camp Stephenson, Timehri, EBD.The batch includes three cadet officers from the Belize Defence Force and the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force. The SOC No. 49 commenced with 36 students in April 2016, but 13 withdrew during the first six weeks of the course.

In a highly motivational address to the students, Brigadier General Phillips told them they were training at a time when the GDF is examining ways to improve its overall professionalism. In this regard, he noted, the course represents their preparation for military work, and so the conduct of the training remains difficult and physically demanding for good reason.

“If we are to be the leaders of our soldiers, then you must endure a greater level of hardship than what obtains on the Basic Recruit Training. However, in all that we do at CUPOCS, we must teach our officer cadets to think, communicate, and always have an interest in the welfare of the soldiers they will command on leaving this course,” he stated.

“You must focus all your efforts on passing this course. Once you pass this course, the sky becomes the limit for you. In addition to preparing you to serve in the military, what you take from this course will benefit you even after you have served. So, stay focused, be disciplined, and maintain a high standard always, and you will pass this course,” he assured the potential officers.

The Chief of Staff commended the students for thus far staying the course, and expressed hope that each of them would endure to the end and, in February 2017, become the ‘newly minted’ Second Lieutenants and future military leaders of the GDF.

The officer cadets will undergo close to one year of rigorous training specifically designed to challenge their physical and mental acuity. A wide range of military subjects will be complemented with lectures in environmental studies, administration, and the Law of Armed Conflict. Training would also be conducted at the Colonel John Clarke Military School (CJCMS) at Tacama, Rio Berbice; the Colonel Robert Mitchell Jungle and Amphibious Training School (CRMJATS) at Makouria in Region Seven, at CUPOCS, and at Base Camp Ayanganna.

The Standard Officers Course transforms, in one year, a civilian into an officer who can lead soldiers during peacetime and at any phase of war. It is the initial training for young officers.