John Shiklam
14 October 2008
Kaduna — ACTING Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, Air Vice Marshal John Odey has urged members of the Armed Forces to remain combat-ready, stressing that this has become imperative to enable them to meet the challenges of modern warfare and threats in a democracy.
He made the remark while speaking as the guest of honour at the closing ceremony of the One Division combat proficiency competition held at the academy.
With adequate training and necessary support, Odey said the military would be in a better stead to deploy its intellectual experience, resources and strength with a view to achieving professionalism in the task of defending the nation's territorial integrity.
He noted that combat-readiness which could only be attained through regular and adequate training, remained the hallmark of a truly professional armed forces.
According to him, the component services of the Armed Forces must therefore keep themselves abreast of the current trend in modern warfare, adding that they should be adequately trained to make their inputs.
With the various threats facing the nation, the Army, he said is charged with the responsibility of national defence and could not afford to be left behind in the global quest for modernisation.
"To get better means we continue training. That's the whole essence of this kind of training competition. In continuous training you discover your strong and weak points. And in this one, we have noticed some of the strong and weak points and I'm the GOC is ready to do something about that.
"I'm sure in the next competition we'll get better. The training continues at the unit level, during games, put more physical exercises into what we do, doing the combat, paying more attention to the details of what is required of you and I'm sure with the mind, we can get to wherever we want. The only person that can stop you is yourself," Odey said.
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