Horton Command and Staff College (HCSC) Leicester Square Freetown of the Ministry of Defence and Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (MoD/RSLAF) on Friday 3rd December 2021 graduates 35 senior military officers drawn from the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS), the Gambian and Guinea Armed Forces (GAFs).
In his opening statement, the Acting Chief Instructor Horton Command and Staff College (Ag CI), Lieutenant Colonel JU Sankoh, welcomed all invited guests and thanked the student officers for enduring till the end of the course. He pointed out m that, courses run at the Senior Command and Staff level are designed to develop officers’ leadership qualities, understanding of duty, and individual responsibility and equip them with the requisite knowledge and capacity to fill in demanding Command and Staff appointments.
He furthered that, the course provided students with an advanced familiarity of the full spectrum of duties which a senior officer will be responsible for; primarily that of managing subordinates and resources, planning and coordinating advanced levels of operations. He stressed that individual performance in the course will be used by Senior Management at the Ministry of Defense for next promotions and to select suitable officers for further Command and Staff training overseas.
The Ag CI also emphasised that the course was divided into two phases: phase one was mainly based on Defense Writing, Administration, Management, and Leadership, Disaster Management, Regional and Sub-Regional Organizations like UN, AU, ECOWAS, and MRU among others.
Phase two covered military tactics with operations other than war and student officers were also introduced to joint m operational campaign planning exercises. The focus during this phase was on military analysis and decision-making process at the tactical, operational, strategic, and professional levels of warfare. A number of Tactical Exercises Without Troops (TWETs) and Command Post Exercises (CPXs) were conducted.
In his keynote address, the Deputy Minister of Defense (DMD) Colonel (Retired) Muna Brima Massaquoi on behalf of the Minister of Defense, MoD RSLAF Senior Management and His Excellency the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, Brigadier (Retired) Julius Maada Bio, thanked all those that attended the course and congratulated them form “successfully completing 12 weeks of rigorous studies and exercises”. He, therefore, expressed confidence that Horton Command and Staff College has “successfully prepared officers who have developed agile and adaptive minds, that can effectively l perform their roles and responsibilities in line with their higher commander’s intent and make timely decisions especially in evolving contemporary security operating environments”.
He remarked that he was highly gratified and honoured to be in their midst as the Guest of Honour for the graduation ceremony and joined all other speakers to congratulate the graduates for their achievements in career development. He reiterated that the Senior Command and Staff Training is meant for officers from the rank of Majors to Lieutenant Colonels, with advanced knowledge and skills to enable them to execute the full spectrum of Command and Staff duties which a senior officer should perform. That the course also helps the Ministry of Defense Senior Management in selecting suitable officers for promotion of officers from the rank of Majors to Lieutenant Colonels and external senior staff courses.
The Guest of Honour added that the Ministry of Defense will continue to provide the required support and directives to enable the College to function effectively as a regional center of excellence, especially when the GoSL has taken over the full administration of the College. He acknowledged in a special way the foreign student officers from the Republics of Gambia and Guinea for completing such stressful training and with great emphasis on the student from the Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS).
He concluded by expressing his profound thanks and appreciation to the Ag Chief Instructor, Directing and Administrative Staff of the College and resource persons from the Fourah Bay College and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for their numerous support in the process of imparting knowledge to enhance the professionalism of the student officers.
During the graduation ceremony, special certificates and awards were also presented to deserving student officers who performed exemplary and proved outstanding during the training. Among them were: Best Allied Student was awarded to Major M Kondeh from the Republic of Guinea, Best Service Paper- Lieutenant Colonel FK Sannoh from the Directorate of Defence Estate, Third Best Student, Lieutenant Colonel A Rollings from the Directorate of Gender and Equal Opportunities, Second Best Student- Lieutenant Colonel AH Kamara of the Directorate of Gender and Equal Opportunities and the Overall Best Student for the Course was Major OD Samura from the Peace Mission Training Center.
Finally, two (2) foreign Directing Staff Lieutenant Colonels Henry Ansah-Akrofi and Ibrahim-Ahmad of Ghana and the Federal Republic of Nigeria were each recognized with daggers (double psc) for their diligence, hard work, and dedication to duty.
