–in interest of safeguarding nation’s integrity

THE Guyana Defence Force (GDF) celebrated its 53rd anniversary with a church service at their Base Camp Ayanganna auditorium on Thursday, under the theme, ‘Effective transformation for total national defence’.

The service, which commenced with the arrival of the Chief-of-Staff, was witnessed by representatives of all the Disciplined Services as well as other officials and special invitees.
And as the Colour Party slow marched, they presented the ‘colour’ to the Force’s Chaplain, who placed it at the altar to the beautiful rendition of the hymn, ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’. The service continued with lusty praise and worship by the GDF and Joint Services Choir, amidst renditions of other hymns such as ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’, followed by a reading of the Scriptures by Sergeant Abigail Mentore, and another song, ‘Bind us together’, this time by the GDF quintet.

There was then a second reading of the Scriptures by GDF Lieutenant Neil Asregadoo, which was followed by prayers from Pandit Dhanesh Prashad, Mohamed Zabid Ally and Reverend Jacob Corbin.
And in the midst of all the worship and praise, Acting Chief of Staff, Colonel Trevor Bowman, MSM, rose to address the audience.

‘YES, WE CAN!’
Taking his cue from the theme of the event, which speaks to the army’s ongoing evolution, Colonel Bowman said:
“I salute you all, and I thank God for keeping this organisation intact in the face of many challenges.

“Indeed, the Force needs to, and will continue its transformation in order to be effective in this changing and contemporary environment.
“Our national security strategy demands that we employ all instruments of national form in an integrated way to meet Guyana’s challenges.

“We must confirm by thinking that we have the ‘Yes, we can’ mentality, for if our lives can conceive it and we believe it, then we can achieve it with the right attitude.”
He said that over the past 53 years, the GDF has given, and will continue to give, unwavering service to the State, and that in the course of giving steadfast service, the lives of its members need to be properly taken care of.

Therefore, the Force will make every effort to improve the quality of life for all of its members at every level.

Colonel Bowman told the gathering that those members of the Force who are far away from base can testify to the improvements they have seen throughout the length and breadth of the country to make their employment more comfortable, and this, he said, will only continue to get better.

THE RIGHT INTERVENTIONS
He noted that as part of his responsibility, visits will be made to all the Force’s locations and bases, so as to get first-hand information in order to ensure that the right interventions are being made towards the upgrading of lives for all.

“The Force remains committed to investing in the education of its ranks at all levels,” Colonel Bowman said.
“We will continue to push to have each soldier equipped with a trade skill, which will allow you to improve your economic potential of earning legitimately, and also making a greater contribution towards nation-building, whether you are in or out of uniform,” he added.

Urging ranks to make full use of whatever education programmes the GDF has to offer, he was particularly emphatic about the benefits to be derived from being multi-lingual and taking up such languages as Spanish and Portuguese.

As to the subject of welfare and social support, Colonel Bowman said no effort will be spared to see that members are adequately taken care of in this regard, as it only serves to make them more resilient and their families that much stronger.

But by the same token, he said, the Force fully expects some sense of loyalty in return.
“As the Force commits towards improvement for you,” Colonel Bowman said, “you must be committed to give back in return. To this end, I expect that your service to the nation would be characterised by honesty, integrity, fearlessness and selflessness.

ZERO TOLERANCE
“Too often there are reports of dishonesty amongst our ranks, but there remains zero-tolerance. And I urge those who are not stealing to not remain silent; those ranks who are associated with robbery, rape, abuse and other ills must be separated from us.
“It must bother us when they are within our Force and find refuge in our barracks.”

He told ranks that they should also pay attention to what they put Online; to think about whether it breaches the Force’s values and standards. And if it does, then they should not post such matters, and urged the ranks to ensure high standard of discipline at all times.

Their commitment to serve, he said, must also be a commitment to exhibiting a good understanding of the environment around them.

And in an apparent reference to Guyana being on the verge of becoming an oil-producing nation, Colonel Bowman said that at this important juncture of our country’s history, ranks must therefore be prepared for any eventuality.

He said that it’s primarily on that score that the GDF has seen it fit to increase its ranks by some 780, in its quest to meet the challenges of the changing environment.

In closing, Colonel Bowman said: “Your commitment to serve must also include to neither abuse the power entrusted to you as members of the GDF; always put your country first, and resolve to defend it with your life, if necessary.
“Continue to be in partnership and friendship, such as those we have with our sister services, the University of Guyana and other progressive stakeholders in civil society.”

Colonel (Ret’d) Wilbert Lee, who delivered the sermon, reinforced a lot of what was said by Colonel Bowman, and urged that the GDF establish a mentoring programme. He stated that based on his observation, having served in the GDF for 36 years, the Force could do well with having such a programme, which will serve to help many young members of staff, as well as establish a ‘connect’ between the young and not-so-young staff of the army.