COLONEL Ronald Hercules of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) successfully completed his master degree at the Inter-American Defence College in Washington District of Columbia (DC), a statement from the GDF said on Thursday.

Hercules is a son of Christianburg, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) with 34 years of service to the military. The GDF Colonel was among a number of senior military officials from countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, the GDF statement said.

Hercules’ programme, which culminated in a Master of Science in Inter-American Defence and Security, lasted 12 months and included training in civil-military relations.
The defence force, currently led by Chief-of-Staff (ag) Colonel Omar Khan, commended Hercules for the completion of his programme. Hercules is the first Guyanese to participate in the programme in just about a decade.

“The training was extremely relevant, even though challenging, as much of it was conducted in Spanish. However, the knowledge gained will contribute, in a big way, to my future as a military officer, as well as at a senior strategic level,” Hercules was quoted as saying in the GDF release.

Hercules praised the support of his family, the GDF and Defence Board, and the Government of Guyana for allowing him the opportunity.
Prime Minister and former GDF Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier (Ret’d), Mark Phillips was the last Guyanese to graduate from the IADC. Prime Minister Phillips completed a post-graduate Diploma in Defence and Security Studies in 2011, the GDF statement said.