The Commander, Defence Headquarters Garrison, Maj.-Gen. Preye Fakrogha, has reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian army to training and operational readiness of its troops towards tackling security challenges in the country.
Fakrogha said this at the closing of the Army Headquarters (AHQ) Garrison 2022 Warrant Officers (WOs) and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers’ (SNCOs) Competition on Friday in Abuja.
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He said the Nigerian army leadership had made giant strides in areas of operational readiness of its troops towards achieving the vision of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya.
According to him, it is in this light that his interest in the training of soldiers with an expected commensurate input by officers and soldiers of the Nigerian army cannot be overemphasised.
“The COAS has directed training of all personnel at all levels, reiterating the belief that if we train and sweat blood during peace time, we would sweat less during military operations,” he said.
The commander said the week-long competition, which is meant to test the improved level of endurance and discipline of the personnel had been of an approved standard.
He said the endurance of the soldiers was tested during the point-to-point exercise, combat swimming and obstacle, adding that their team work and discipline were tested during the drill competition.
According to him, their weapon handling and marksmanship were tested during the range classification to attest to their level of competence.
He congratulated the winners of the competition and reminded them that the aim of the competition was to train and build on their knowledge, sharpness, endurance and team spirit.
Fakrogha urged them to take all the exercises serious as they could decide the outcome of whatever they might find themselves in the future.
Earlier, the Training Officer, AHQ Garrison, Brig.-Gen. Adeleye Lawal, said the soldiers who took part in the competition had become far better than they were before they reported for the training and competition proper.
Lawal said the exercise was in line with the directive of the COAS which enjoins every single member of the armed forces to be trained so as to be ready to deliver home and dry whenever called upon.
He explained that the competing soldiers had gone through a lot since Monday when they had their map reading and point to point exercise.
Lawal said the teams were at Keffi, Nasarawa State for their shooting competition on Tuesday, came back on Wednesday for obstacle crossing while the five kilometres run and combat swimming took place on Thursday.
According to him, the final exercise ended with drills to determine the overall champion of the competition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the competition featured three teams comprising Alpha (A), Bravo (B) and Charlie (C) from various departments in Army Headquarters, the garrison and 1 Special Women battalion.
While the team Charlie won the Map reading, five kilometre run/swimming and drill, team Alpha won the weapon handling/marksmanship and team Bravo won the obstacle crossing.
The overall result showed that team Charlie came first; team Alpha second and team Bravo came third. (NAN)
