Deputy Chief of Defence Forces Lt. Gen. Wilson Mbadi has flagged off a contingent of 219 Ugandans to participate in the 11th Field Training Exercise in Tanga region in Tanzania.
The function was held at Gaddafi military cantonment headquarters in Jinja district.
In his remarks, Gen. Mbadi said the training will be conducted on between November 5-21, 2018 by EAC partner states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, pursuant to Article 2 of the EAC protocol on cooperation on Defence Affairs.
He said the model is based on peace support operations (PSO), disaster management (DM), counter terrorism (CT) and counter piracy (CP) themes are aimed at joint training exercise of the military, the police and civilian components from the six participating EAC partner states on joint planning and conduct of operations necessary to resolve arising crisis.
He emphasized discipline, hard work, and professional conduct during the exercise, “maintain their Pan Africanist spirit, exhibit exemplary performance and be good Uganda ambassadors during the EAC Forces Field Training Exercise in Tanga Tanzania,” he added.
The Chief of Training and Recruitment (CTR), Brig. Wills Byarugaba observed that some notable security challenges faced by Uganda and the EAC region can be addressed through such joint military exercises that help armed Forces build the required capabilities.
He noted that EAC Forces have gone beyond exercises and are already operating together in regional missions like AMISOM in Somalia.
“This is in line with the decision of the EAC sectorial council and in line with a designed elaborate program of activities that include Joint training, Joint Operation, Technical Assistance, cultural exchanges and sports and games to enhance the spirit of comradeship and interoperability among the EAC Armed Forces and other stakeholders,”
At the end of the Field Training Exercise, all participants are expected to have enhanced in interoperability between the EAC partner state Armed Forces police component, Civilian component, state of readiness of the EAC partner states’ Armed Forces and other skills.