Army Training School Graduates 446

Brigadier-General Daniel Kweku Mishio inspecting the parade. On his right is Recruit Damesi Israel, the parade commander and Overall Best Recruit

FOUR HUNDRED and forty-six recruits enlisted in the Ghana Army on January 26 have graduated from the Shai Hills Army Recruit Training School at Shai Hills in the Dangme West District after 23 weeks of tough training.

Initially 450 men were recruited but four had to drop out as they failed to make the mark after undergoing difficult drill lessons, weapon handling and marksmanship among other physical, mental and moral exercises.

The reviewing officer at the passing out parade, Brigadier-General Mishio advised the recruits to take advantage of the Army Combat Training School (ACTS) at Teshie where they would begin their career and professional development courses.

That, he said, would ensure they did not lack the requisite skill and knowledge to work effectively.

He explained that ACTS had widened the scope of its courses in response to the current complex threats in crime.

Brigadier-General Mishio observed that the new young soldiers were joining the army at a time when crime had become more and more sophisticated.

He said, 'All around the globe, money laundering, drug and arms trafficking, terrorism and armed robbery are assuming alarming proportions, and combating these crimes call for more innovative training as well as the army's total collaboration with other state security agencies.'

The reviewing officer used the occasion to warn the young soldiers not to use their new career as an opportunity to constitute themselves into unauthorized law enforcement agencies, undertaking debt collection, guarding lands or settling personal disputes without recourse to due process of the law.

Reminding them of their oath to the service and Ghana, Brigadier-General Mishio admonished the soldiers to always bear true and faithful allegiance to the Republic of Ghana, be ready to defend the Constitution and always abide by the laws of the state.

He congratulated the new soldiers for enduring 23 weeks of rigorous training that stretched them to the limit.

FROM Razak Mardorgyz Abubakar, Shai Hills