By Linus Aleke
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), said, it can now locally build the capacity of its personnel on protection and safeguarding of critical national assets, without dependent on the Israeli security company, as was the case in the past.
Director of Public Relations and Information Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Ayodele Famuyiwa, in a statement, said, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, applauded the Air Officer Commanding, Ground Training Command (AOC-GTC), Commandant, staff, and instructors of the Regiment Training Centre
(RTC), for painstaking training the fourth batch of the Critical Asset Protection Squad Course (CAPSC), 4/2023, as against the first and second courses conducted with the assistance of the Israeli Four Troop Security Company.
Air Marshal Amao said, this at the graduation ceremony of a new batch of 151 Regiment personnel comprising 10 officers and 141 airmen/airwomen, at the Regiment Training Centre (RTC) of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Base Kaduna.
He said, there was no doubt that the RTC has done a great job in molding and equipping the graduating students with requisites skills, knowledge, and the right attitude needed for the efficient conduct of base defense and force protection responsibilities.
The CAS, also urged the graduands to maintain a high level of discipline and professionalism while consolidating on the knowledge gained during the course to improve their skills for the benefits of the NAF and the nation at large.
Represented at the graduation ceremony by the Chief of Training and Operations, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Aliyu Bello, the CAS disclosed that the NAF would continue to adopt new processes in line with changing security environment in furtherance of his vision “to enhance and sustain critical airpower capabilities required for joint force employment in pursuit of national security imperatives”.
Earlier in a remark, the AOC-GTC, AVM Sola Olatunde, commended, the CAS for providing the enabling environment in terms of policy direction, the release of resources and other enablers to effectively and successfully run the centre to produce such gallant ground combat personnel with the rightful skills that would better safeguard NAF assets and bases as well as national critical assets.
The AOC revealed that the training institutions under the GTC now have added capacity to train allied students of other nations, a development he noted was another testimony to the CAS’s tenacity for purposeful training and capacity development across board.
He said, the command has instituted several reforms on curriculum review, infrastructural upgrades, and instructor enhancements through training the trainer courses to make all NAF institutions regionally and globally attractive.
The course, he said, included two weeks of medical and physical screening with eight weeks of rigorous physical training, aimed at equipping the trainees with tactics, techniques and procedures to enable them function effectively and adapt to the dynamics of the constantly changing irregular warfare environment.
“In actualizing the objectives of the course, the training was conducted in four phases including the operative phase, range/shooting phase and the consolidation/exercise phase to groom the trainees with the skills required to defend NAF bases and other critical national assets like airports,” the statement said.
Air Commodore Famuyiwa noted that highlights of the graduation ceremony include a simulation of a scenario where base defense procedure is being carried out with a team of adversaries initiating an attack on a VIP convoy, resulting in the force protection team responding with a counter-attack to repel and dislodge the elements.
