President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has warned Uganda People’s Defence Forces officers to stay away from corruption, as the only way they will be able to live a long and fruitful life.
Speaking at the Kabamba Uganda Military Academy in Mubende district while passing out 413 army officers who underwent an armour military warfare course, Museveni also urged soldiers to care about their equipment, arguing that it’s the only way they will survive in case of a war.
“Love yourself so that you don’t die of diseases, alcohol or drugs. You should remain healthy, but as we told you, you must also love your equipment because if you don’t look after it well, especially if you are corrupt, when war comes, you will die. When you see a corrupt soldier, he is your enemy and the enemy of the country,” Museveni said.
The President assured the officers that the modernisation of UPDF is continuing and commended the leadership of the army on the strides made to professionalise the force. “I’m happy that the CDF is still working on welfare, training, and infrastructure. We have been busy building barracks and other training facilities.”413 graduates who include 74 Armour platoon commanders, 122 Armour technicians and 217 Armour crews who have been passed out today, all trained in advanced military warfare skills and tactics for six months.
Museveni congratulated the graduates for successfully finishing their course. “I want to congratulate the graduates for learning quickly in six months, where you mastered this equipment of tanks in the four courses that have been mentioned here. I want to congratulate you and pass you out today,” Museveni said.
The President also tasked the officers to ensure comprehensive packaging of defence capabilities in their military operations. “As I told your commanders, war is an old science and an old art. Science in the form of equipment and art in the way you are organised and utilise the equipment. Science always influences the organisation and the tactics,” he said. He also cautioned the graduates to understand the existing threats to armour defence technologies and adapt to the necessary counter approaches. “The tank has new threats like the air force, which has been improving and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), so we need to understand the packaging of capacity,”
The Deputy Chief of Defence Forces, Lt. Gen. Sam Okiding, revealed that the UPDF is fast-tracking the upgrade of all military training facilities to centres of excellence and 14 of them, including the Uganda Military Warfare Academy – Kabamba, have attained that status.
Okiding cautioned armour military trainees to maintain precision and competence and avoid delusive behaviours and lifestyles.
The Commandant Armoured Warfare Training School, Brig Gen. Peter Chandia, explained that the 413 graduates were skilled in mechanised warfare and the fundamentals of firepower mobility. Chandia also revealed that the graduates were competent enough to skillfully employ mechanised resources in contemporary battle spaces.