Defence

Nov 16, 2008 Peeping Tom

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INTRODUCTION:

Our military has not been modernised in decades. Their mission has been recently changed to crime-fighting instead of building a military for the current times, such as protecting our borders.
As we enter the last few years of this decade, it is time we come to grips on the future of our nation from all aspects of political, social and economic perspective. We are all aware of the nagging claim Venezuela has on key portions of our country that is affecting our economics, and as I have said before, contributing to the growing poverty in our nation while holding us hostage. We continue to have border disputes with Suriname.
We must modernise not just our equipment but our policies. There are major initiatives that we must embark on.
In my seventeen years serving in the U.S. Military, I have seen many changes to the U.S. doctrine and the necessary changes which were required to retool the troops to implement. We must re-define our doctrine to deal with 21st century issues facing our nation and not keep the Army as we know it of the 1980s. The military has been rocked by theft of major weapons and by proof of torture. They have a daunting task of rebuilding their image and creating a military that we all can be proud of.

THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT:
President-Elect Obama said that he will rebuild diplomatic links throughout this hemisphere through aggressive, principled, and sustained diplomacy in the Americas from Day One. He said he will bolster U.S. interests in the region by pursuing policies that advance democracy, opportunity, and security, and will treat our hemispheric partners and neighbours with dignity and respect. This opens the door for new type of defence agreements that can improve many aspects of our military and our nation.
The Narco Trafficking across our borders and through our country has been on the increase over the last decade. We have to create an agency that can be part of our military that can protect our borders from such illegal acts. Partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is critical.
NECESSARY CHANGES:
1. Integrate Military and Civilian Efforts: In 2004, in my book “Hope for Our Nation” I suggested that we revitalise and expand an Engineer Corps to allow for participation in building homes, roads, bridges and any tasks that are deemed necessary. It is better to have a permanently skilled work force than to continue to employ expensive foreign contractors. This way we can increase our recruitment in the military and major government projects can be in sourced to this division.
2. Create a National Assistance Corps. There is a great need for some form of National Service to curb our unemployment of so many young people. This force can be used in many areas, especially in agriculture.
a. Imagine if we expand our agriculture corps and really focus on growing more food. The revenues from this initiative can pay for it and create thousands of jobs.
b. Putting back a Cadet Corps for school students can create future leaders. I will always cherish my early training in the National Service Cadet Corps; it helped shape me from a timid child to someone who believed they can achieve something in life.
3. Modernising our Coast Guard should be a high priority. Our vessels and equipment are the worst in the region. We need to invest significant dollars into this arena. They have been neglected over the last decade. Incidents such as what happened in our waters in Corentyne would be curtailed and our pride restored.
4. Increase Border Training and Security: We have seen recent cooperation with our Brazilian counterparts. This is a major improvement and must continue. Once again, our acceptance of the DEA coming to Guyana will make this component viable.
5. Re-equip the Army Air Corps to provide aerial surveillance on our borders and assist in drug-interdiction operations. We can also expand our search and rescue operations as we expand eco-tourism and operations in the interior.
6. Create a deep water harbour where ships such as the U.S. Navy vessel will not have to dock 17 miles from land. Imagine if many more can dock, what opportunities can open up for our military.
7. We just celebrated Remembrance Day for War Veterans, but we need to make the day for all veterans of our military to honour their service. GT&T made a great first step in establishing a fund to build a home for our military veterans.
CONCLUSION:
Defence is the foundation of peace; therefore we cannot neglect this major component of our national defence strategy. I have just listed a few areas of our Guyana Modernisation Blueprint where our defence can be improved. Our military has been under strain lately fighting crime. We need to improve the police force and put the military back to what they are trained to do, protect our nation and restore our pride.
We must recommit ourselves to our sense of pride and patriotism. We must revitalize our optimism. When I was growing up, I recited the national pledge, “I pledge myself to honour always the Flag of Guyana, and to be loyal to my country, to be obedient to the laws of Guyana, to love my fellow citizens, and to dedicate my energies towards the happiness and prosperity of Guyana.” But today where is the patriotism and optimism of those words? We desperately need a resurgence of patriotism and a new focus for national optimism. We can achieve this only when we stand together in solidarity as “We Guyana”. Until next time: “Roop”.

Send comments to peter.ramsaroop@gmail.com or www.visionguyana.com

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