Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The Nigeria Army has tasked its personnel on professionalism and combat-readiness.
The General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigeria Army, Enugu, Maj. Gen. T.A Lagbaja, who gave the charge Friday at the closing ceremony of the 82 Division Inter-Brigade Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers competition held at 14 Brigade Ohafia, said that the Army will continue to prioritise training and professionalism.
Gen. Lagbaja who was represented by the Commandant of 13 Brigade Calabar, Brig. Gen. Everest Okoro, said that the Army will not renege in its constitutional responsibility of defending the territorial integrity of the country.
According to him: “This Division will continue to pursue its training schedules in order to perfect on current tactics, techniques and procedures and as well acquire new ones with a view to realizing the COAS’s Vision which is to have a professional Nigerian Army ready to accomplish assigned missions within a Joint Environment in Defence of Nigeria.
“In the last four days, we have witnessed passion, doggedness, dexterity, skills and professionalism from all the participants.
“This glamorous outing is in no doubt a culmination of hard work, discipline and resourcefulness put in at various levels of preparation by the various contingents.
“Purposeful training which is the bedrock of military professionalism was the catalyst to what we have witnessed during the competition. With this, let me remind all that, we must continue to train ourselves so that we can develop the required capability in our troops to handle every challenge thrown at them by the security dynamics.
“Therefore, the just concluded competition is not only timely but key in improving the combat readiness of our Warrant Officers and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers in 82 Division.
The GOC commended participants at the competition especially those who won various medals while urging them to improve on areas of observed weaknesses and strengthen the areas of strength.
Various events where the participants competed on include: weapon handling, digital map reading and navigation, obstacle crossing, combat swimming, night and day firing among others.
Meanwhile, 13 Brigade Calabar emerged the overall best with a total of 4898 points, followed by 82 Division Garrison Brigade which scored 4836 points while 14 Brigade Ohafia came third with 4365 points.
The Golden spoon award for the best Brigade from the rear was collected by 44 Engineer Brigade Enugu.
82 Division Garrison Brigade Enugu came first in weapon handling while 44 Engineer Brigade emerged best in navigation. 13 Brigade Calabar was the best in combat swimming.
