THE Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya has charged passing out cadets of Direct Short Service Course 26 (Army) and Direct Regular Course 30 (Nigerian Air Force) to serve the nation with honour and valour in the course of their military career.
General Yahaya gave the admonition on Friday, while addressing the cadets, who are scheduled to pass out from the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna today after nine months of intensive and rigorous military training at the military institution.
Speaking further, the COAS averred that contemporary security challenges demand that the cadets ensure that the professional tenets and core values imbibed in the academy impact positively on their operational tasks and other assigned duties, stressing that their value addition must be felt in their various deployments, after graduation.
He urged the officer cadets to shun all forms of social vices that could derail or impede their avowed service to fatherland.
In a statement issued by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, the over 300 Army and Air Force cadets shall be granted presidential commission, after their graduation in a colourful Passing Out Parade (POP) billed to hold at the NDA, Kaduna today.
As special guest of honour, the COAS, also commissioned the newly completed ultra modern Small Arms Simulation Shooting Range by the Commandant NDA, Maj-Gen Ibrahim Yusuf.
He said that the indoor shooting range will provide ample opportunity to expose cadets to regular shooting practice in an effort to sharpen their firing skill under various physical conditions.
In another development, the COAS also commissioned an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) lecture hall and a computer laboratory respectively at the Special Warfare Wing and Warrant Officer Academy of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry (NASI) in Jaji Military Cantonment, Kaduna.
Briefing the COAS at the commissioning, the Commandant NASI, Maj-Gen Monday Alli, noted that the projects were executed to empower trainees with special competences that will enhance their efficiency in ongoing and future operations.
