SIXTEEN Guyana Defence Force (GDF) officers on Friday completed more than 14 weeks of training designed to equip them with the skills required to function as unit commanders and senior staff officers in military operations. 

The Senior Command and Staff Course (SCSC) includes modules which cover a number of areas, including staff duties and communication skills, military law, command and leadership, military ethics and history, internal security operations and intelligence, and security.
Students also benefitted from virtual lectures from Brigadier Errol Johnson of the Jamaica Cadet Corps; Commander Park Peterson of the Barbados Coast Guard; and Carlton Joao of Banks DIH Guyana Limited.

Training was conducted in adherence with COVID-19 restrictions.
At the closing ceremony held on Friday at Base Camp Ayanganna, Captain Jermaine Newton was awarded the prize for Best Graduating Student.
Captain Sven Douglas was the runner-up student, while the prize for Best Research Paper went to Captain Mirza Wahid.
Chief of Staff (ag), Brigadier Godfrey Bess, in the feature address congratulated the graduates, and urged that their successful completion of the course does not absolve them of the need to continuously keep their minds and thoughts engaged.
He urged them to pursue higher learning, and to shun complacency.

“There is nothing routine about assuming higher command within the GDF. We have not trained you to be routine; we have trained you to be exceptional. You must be exceptional in your thinking, and conceptualising. You must be exceptional in your interpretation of statutes, your application of knowledge, and your manner of engaging and delivering judgements that will enable your command to be seen and understood to be not just effective and efficient, but, more importantly, transformational,” he said.
Brigadier Bess added: “Your effectiveness will always be evaluated against the depth and the breadth of your understanding of the changing dynamics of this environment. You are ready to graduate today, but are you ready for the future? Your capabilities will be fully demonstrated when you hold the command for which you have now been educated.”
The graduating officers were reminded that the GDF is evolving, and the Chief of Staff emphasised that they must evolve with it.
“You must be able to see where changes to the status quo are necessary, and need to be supported by relevant actions,” he said, adding: “Additionally, you must understand when and how to

apply forceful and direct commands, and when to engage in diplomatic behaviour, since the intelligent and astute application of your composite military and academic qualifications and experiences to assuming and delivering in your command will be your most important base going forward.”
Expressing the hope that the lessons learnt during the course would open their minds to the possibilities as to where the GDF can go, Brigadier Bess urged the graduating officers to continue to put their shoulders to the wheel to get the work done.

The SCSC is a capstone military course, and its successful completion is a prerequisite for entrance into the Senior Officer Corps.