Newly passed out non commission offiers of the Ghana Air Force have been warned against the performance of unwarranted civilian and police duties that has the tendency to compromise the integrity of the force.
Retired Air vice Marshal Issifu Sakib Kadri told the 312 officers at their passing out ceremony not to allow themselves to be lured by the public into executing duties that are outside their mandate.
Retd. Kadri observed that in the recent past, some military personnel went out of their bounds to discharge duties that brought the profession into disrepute.
“I would therefore want to use this opportunity to caution you against some unprofessional conducts that in the past have sometimes been exhibited by some miscreants in the profession. These infractions have often caused extreme embarrassment to command” he advised.
He underscored the need for new officers to come to terms with their new identity as military professionals and act accordingly.
The retired military chief thus charged them to stay focus and not to accept unwarranted duties like “debt collection, unsolicited police duties, acting as land guards, arresting of drug peddlers, galamsey operations and other illegal activities”.
A total of 312 non commission officers consisting of 223 airmen and 89 airwomen for the 1/2018 recruit course passed out at the Air Force base in Takoradi last week Friday under the command of the acting commanding officer, flight lieutenant Samuel Adjei – Affum.
This was after they had undergone a 26-week of training. They are to ensure “the realization of the mission of delivering air power to meet national security objectives”.
Meanwhile, a new recruit training school has been commissioned in Takoradi in the Western Region to enable the school increase its recruitment to 500.
The base commander, Group Captain Eric Agyen Frempon noted “the previous place was not conducive for training”. It could only take a maximum of two hundred recruits…now we can in more, about five hundred intakes and maybe churn out intakes twice in a year”.
The old recruit training school was a makeshift facility which was converted into a training school. Authorities said this impeded enrolment in the past.
Records show the old structure for the school, which had since 1995 been hosting the recruits, could take just about 200.
By Loveridge Ampratwum Okyere/3news.com/Ghana