THE Guyana Police Force (GPF), on Wednesday, announced the appointment of 12 new Cadet Officers, who successfully completed the Standard Officer’s Course (SOC) Number 42 earlier this year.
The dozen received the letters appointing them in the Commissioner’s Conference Room, Eve Leary, Georgetown that morning.
In his remarks on the occasion, Commissioner Henry Greene lauded the efforts of Cadet Officer John Barker, who topped the batch on the course and mentioned the other top performers who got awards.
Greene said Barker also won a total of three awards and it made the GPF proud of the achievements of the cadets, who are being trained and will be ready for posting in divisions countrywide in the next two years.
Their appointments, by the Police Service Commission (PSC), were retroactive to March 1, 2010 and they are expected to serve for two years during which time they will be assessed, with a view to being made Assistant Superintendents (ASPs) after they would have written the qualifying examination and passed in all nine subjects.
The most senior cadet present Wednesday was Mahadeo Singh, who worked at Brickdam Police Station, also in Georgetown and gave the Vote of Thanks on behalf of his colleagues.
Barker, 23, also copped the Venezuelan Armed Forces and Brazilian Armed Forces prizes.
The SOC was developed to provide training not only for new Army officers but also for the other Joint Services. It offers a solid foundation for the subsequent professional development of all cadets entering the GDF, as well.
It is, consequently, only an introduction to the officer training and development systems of all military and para-military services in Guyana and the Caribbean and must be supplemented by the appropriate specialist and technical training of the relevant services.
The SOC syllabus includes an intense programme of military skills and tactics, rigorous physical fitness, team activities designed to promote stamina and group spirit, leadership and command methods, management techniques, military law and national policy.