By Frank Kamuntu
President Museveni who is also the commander in chief of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) has urged the forces to emphasize the ideology of Patriotism while serving the people of Uganda.
“Don’t look at the army as a source of jobs. Yes, it might be a job but also there’s service to the country,” Gen. Museveni said, reminding them that they succeeded in building a strong army because of being patriotic and working without pay.
“Remember that at one time, some of us who were serving the country were not being paid. We were working for patriotism only. But in your case things are easier. You can work for patriotism but also be paid for that,” H.E Museveni noted.
Gen Museveni made these remarks while passing out a total of 391 trainees who have successfully completed their training in platoon commander and armoured basic crew courses at the Armoured Warfare Training School- Karama in Mubende district.
Of these, 55 personnel of which 5 are female completed their 1-year Armoured Platoon Commander course while the 336 out of which 27 are female completed the 6 months Armour basic crew course.
The Commander in Chief also called upon the graduates to continue learning about warfare, saying building the force was due to the continuous learning.
“When you see what’s going on in parts of Africa, you wonder whether these people are trained. Why do you have soldiers who don’t plan for their country? We were able to build the NRA/ UPDF because we were studying. That’s why we were able to build up the force from nothing,” Gen Museveni stressed, not forgetting discipline which has kept UPDF on top.
“I want to tell you that your future is bright because you are now entering a very disciplined force-the UPDF. You need to be disciplined, you will go very far,” H.E Museveni said.
The Chief of Défense Forces Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi emphasized the relevance of the course in modern warfare, saying it’s a vital and regular member of the combat support to the field commander because it brings decisive objectives due to its high mobility, superior fire power, protection, and shock action characteristics, thus enabling quick means of achieving the ultimate objective which is destruction of the enemy.
Karama Armoured Warfare Training School is currently the only training centre for exposing our young soldiers to the proficient tactics and employment of armour. The course objectives include among others; Develop individual crew member skills and proficiency in gunnery and driving, develop single weapon crew coordination skills necessary for operation, Producing Armor platoon commanders who are well prepared to offer leadership to Armor platoons and to impart to the platoon commanders.
The school also conducts refresher and pre-deployment mission training to Armor sub-units and Armor components that are part of battle groups with the aim of enhancing their lethality and functional capabilities to execute combined arms land operations.
