Military Officers
Editorial
Stabroek News
November 16, 2002
The annual commissioning parade of Guyana Defence Force military cadets has become a familiar spectacle at this time of the year, like the graduation of University of Guyana students last week and the admission of new attorneys-at-law to the Guyana Bar last month.
Ceremonies such as these mark the transition from adolescence to maturity and, presumably, from apprenticeship to proficiency, for the young men and women on whom new professional status has been conferred. They promise, also, an enlargement and replenishment of the pool of intellect and expertise available to the nation as a whole.
These rites of passage, accompanied by pre-modern pageantry; decorated with the distinctive regalia of the respective professions; solemn swearing of oaths; delivery of lofty admonitory addresses by dignitaries; presentation of parchments of qualification and trophies for outstanding performance; and attendance of proud parents and high officials, have become important national events.
Military cadets, in particular, are required under the Defence Act, to swear to an oath before the President who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces under the Constitution and who usually decorates them with the new insignia of rank which were consecrated at a special religious ceremony. Much of this ritual has been inherited, lock, stock and barrel, from the British Army. New officers carry swords which have little use in modern warfare. All of these contribute to the timeless mystique of military officership and emphasise the sacredness of officers’ service to the State.
But, spectacle apart, the commissioning of a new batch of officers at this stage of the security crisis in this country is a significant step. The GDF over the years has been responsible for training its own officers, the result of a very practical decision in 1969 on the eve of Guyana’s becoming a Republic. Prior to that, only a few military cadets could be trained in the UK.
Guyana became the first Commonwealth Caribbean State to establish its own officer cadet school which was named the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School (CUPOCS) in September 1981, after one of its commanders.
As an aspect of Guyana’s ‘defence diplomacy’, the GDF trained some cadets from the defence forces of other Caribbean States such as Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Kitts-Nevis.
In Guyana, from time to time, cadets from non-military forces were trained at CUPOCS although it was not a requirement for appointment in their respective services. The Commissioner of Police designate Winston Felix, the acting Chief Fire Officer Carlisle Washington, and the Director of Prisons Dale Erskine, are all graduates of CUPOCS. The present GDF Chief of Staff, Brigadier Michael Atherly, is the first local graduate to reach that rank and appointment.
There is much to recommend any system under which cadets from several services could be given a common grounding to prepare them for their responsibilities and duties as officers. Equally, small states could benefit from contributing to a regional institution which is capable of training a greater number of officers at a lower cost than, say, in metropolitan states. It is also advantageous to conduct this sort of training in familiar physical conditions, in a familiar cultural milieu, and among familiar people.
The maintenance of high standards is the challenge that faces all local educational and training institutions. At UG, for example, chronic under-funding has been blamed for the inability to recruit more highly qualified staff, increase library holdings, and improve the physical infrastructure and resources at the Turkeyen and Tain campuses. It would be surprising if CUPOCS does not face similar challenges at its Timehri academic campus and Tacama battle camp.
So far, 2002 has been a testing year for all of Guyana’s uniformed services. From the Mashramani prison escape, to the Diwali street killings, and the continuing military and police anti-crime operations, a frightened populace has looked to the men and women in uniform for safety.
The country needs officers of quality to help to preserve national defence and public safety. The GDF officer cadet training programme seems to have been helping to do just that.
