Kofi Ampeah Woode
Junior Staff Course 78 of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) has graduated sixty-four (64) Military Officers from Ghana, The Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, after 19 weeks of training to equip them with knowledge and skills essential for Junior Staff and middle-level appointments.
GAFCSC’s Junior Staff Course – also known as Junior Division – which teaches to appreciate and effectively manage the multi-dimensional challenges participants are bound to face in their careers, graduated on Friday 16 December, 2022, at the Hamidu Hall, Teshie Ridge, with Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Joseph Daniel Prah (Rtd) as the Guest-of-Honour.
Brig Gen JD Prah said the Junior Division broadens the professional and general outlook of students on matters of both national and international interest, through a combination of seminars and lectures delivered by competent lecturers from the Ghana Armed Forces and highly esteemed institutions of academic excellence.
He exhorted the Officers, as future commanders and professional military officers, to be ahead in their training and preparations at all times, in order to be on top of challenges that they might encounter in their future endeavours, and be practically committed to problem solving in respect of the training of their personnel, their administration and welfare, having an inquiring mind, being astute and meticulous, paying attention to details, with steadfastness, honesty and high integrity.
The retired General commended the continued participation of Officers from allied African countries in GAFCSC programs and said it is an attestation to the collective quests to achieve integration of the continent, to promote continental cooperation in all spheres and endeavours, and urged the graduands to apply the knowledge and expertise acquired, for the total development of their respective Armed Forces.
The Assistant Commandant of the Junior Division GAFCSC – Brig Gen Albert Kwadwo Dawohoso, in presenting a report on the Junior Division of the Military College for the Second Half of the Training Year 2022, said the Junior Staff Course 78 assembled on 29 July 2022 and commenced lectures on 1 August 2022.
One Officer attended from The Gambia, two from the Republic of Liberia, two from Sierra Leone and eleven from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whilst the remaining 48 students were drawn from the Ghana Army, the Ghana Navy and the Ghana Air Force.
The Junior Division aims at training selected officers to perform Staff Functions by developing their leadership, analytical and communication skills, while providing the foundation for their subsequent career development, thus, students who are able to prove their mettle are awarded the symbol jsc which signifies that the graduand has passed the Junior Staff Course.
As part of the Experiential Studies package of the College, the Course undertook an Environmental Study Tour to the Volta Region to conduct research into some of the existing challenges to the development of the Region, where in consultation with the Ministry of Local Government, the study covered five thematic areas which specifically looked at:
1) Improving Solid Waste Management in the Volta Region; 2) An analysis of the Security concerns in the Volta Region to assist relevant stakeholders improve their readiness state in maintenance of security in the region; 3) Suggested strategies required to improve the Volta Regions capability to capitalize on benefits associated with tourism in the Volta Region.
The other areas of the study were: 4) Strategies for combating child-trafficking and assessment of its impact on the socio-economic development in the Volta Region and finally, 5) Assessment of the Healthcare delivery in the Volta Region.
Most of the non-military lectures on national and international issues during the Course were handled by lecturers from the University of Ghana, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and some state agencies, sister security services and public and private organizations.
A 2-week internal security and counter-insurgency package of the Course, culminated into Exercise OMBUDSMAN, where the students were practically exercised on internal security management, to equip them with the needed skills to plan and execute internal security and counter-insurgency operations effectively, in support of the civil authority, if the need arises in their respective countries.
The following were adjudged award winners: OVERALL BEST STUDENT – Lieutenant Commander (Lt Cdr) OCN Nuotuo (Ghana Navy), 2ND BEST STUDENT, 3RD BEST COMMANDANT’S PAPER and BEST ALLIED STUDENT – Captain (Capt) M AHMED (Nigerian Army), 3RD BEST STUDENT – Capt AO BANJOKO (Nigerian Army), BEST ASSISTANT COMMANDANT’S PAPER – Major (Maj) NAD DAPAAH (Ghana Army), 2ND BEST ASSISTANT COMMANDANT’S PAPER – Lieutenant (Lt) AA Samura (Sierra Leone Army) and EVERARD AWARD – Maj G Appiah (Ghana Army).
Dignitaries present included the Commandant, GAFCSC – Rear Admiral Moses Kojo Beick-Baffour, the Deputy Commandant – Brig Gen Wekite Abass Seidu, Assistant Commandant, Senior Division – Air Commodore Eric Yirenkyi, representatives from the Ghanaian Diplomatic Corps, Senior Officers, Directing Staff and Commanding Officer, GAFCSC – Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Ampadu.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
