The Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) on Thursday offered free medical services and distributed palliatives to residents of Bina and Tudun Amada villages in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the intervention was part of the ongoing field training exercise code named ‘Ubia-Isin’, which began on Nov. 22 and will end Nov. 26.
The beneficiaries were tested and given treatment for malaria, high blood pressure, diabetes, eye conditions and other ailments. They also received mosquito nets, bags of Maize, Rice and Beans among others.
The Commandant, AVM Ebenezer Alade appreciated the communities for their support to the college. He explained that the palliative was to enhance civil-military relationship.
“The palliative we gave out to the host communities is realism, this is what we do in real operation areas, because we need the communities to be on our side’’
“These are what we do in terms of civil-military relationship so that the host communities can give us information and tell us what is happening in their communities and report infiltrators. We need them to support us, therefore, these are things to get them on our side,” he said.
NAN reports that the communities appreciated the intervention and promised to support the military at all times.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Defence Simulation, Maj.-Gen. Godwin Umelo, has urged participants of Junior Course 92 to assimilate all aspects of warfare in order to excel.
Umelo who was the special guest during the Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency Operations phase of the exercise, said that the exercise was to blend classroom theories to practical war situations.
He said the student officers would be evaluated based on their understanding of all the aspects of warfare, including counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations.
“In the military, we blend the way we are to fight, what we are trying to do today is bring realism to all aspects of our training including emergency evacuation’’
“What we are doing is in tandem with the situation we have found ourselves today and we are trying to get them attuned to the reality on ground’’
“With what we have seen so far, we have every conviction that there will be light at the end of the tunnel’’
“These are vibrant young men that have been here for the past four to five months going through every aspect of fighting war. And what we are doing is to bring together everything they have learnt while in the classroom to put it into practice in the field.”
Umelo told the student officers that in spite of the synergy in the military, it was not all the time that personnel find themselves in an environment where everyone has to fight together.
“If you find yourself in an environment where there is no water body, the middle man only provides some support depending on what you need, they might not play an active role because of limitations of the environment’’
“We have been working together where the environment dictates, and that is why even here, though it’s purely a land operation, the navy is there to provide limited support,” Umelo said.
Also, the commandant said the exercise was a combination of what the students have learnt in the classroom.
Alade said that the students have been imbued with new tactics in terms of the type of warfare being experienced in the country.
“We are getting them in tune so that by the end of the course, they will be able to perform wonders,” he said.
Discussion about this post