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Guyana remains a unitary state — Granger
President David Granger yesterday gave his remarks at the Presentation of Instruments of the Commission Ceremony at the Baridi Benab, State House.
His Excellency Retired Brigadier David Arthur Granger
During his remarks he said that Guyana remains a unitary country because of the courage of the GDF.
In his speech, the president said, “Guyana remains a unitary and indivisible state because of the courage, competence and commitment of the Guyana Defence Force in these operations. These operations involved intelligent planning, intense training and innovative tactics.
“We pay tribute, today, to the leadership who suppressed the Rupununi Rebellion and defended the New River Zone 50 years ago.”
Having said that, the president then gave a history lesson as it was evident that quite a number of the younger folks were lost and had very little if no knowledge on that subject matter.
He went on to say that the suppression of those said incidents all those years ago, illustrated the GDF’s military proficiency. The country’s military history recounts that rebels seized an area that was thousands of square kilometers and when compared to, it was larger than the Republic of Costa Rica.
That was a failed attempt to secede from Guyana and establish an independent republic in January 1969. The GDF task force launched operations to extinguish all rebel forces in both the North and South Savannahs and to have central government retake its foothold throughout the country.
Granger noted, “The force was obliged to launch a lightning strike seven months later, in August 1969, against foreign intruders who attempted to take the New River Zone, an integral part of Guyana’s territory that encompasses 15,540 km [squared].
“The Force again sprang into action successfully expelling the foreigners thereby ensuring the sovereignty of our Government over its territory.”
These operations demonstrated the Defence Force’s ability to respond to the threats of rebellion and territorial incursion. Their successes vindicated the efforts exerted, at the time on developing a well-trained and highly talented corps of officers and soldiers.
Training is obviously the foundation of a professional and proficient Force, and it is absolutely necessary to ensure the process of military missions, for enhancing operational effectiveness and for developing physical endurance, President Granger said.
It is also fundamental to military service and that is why the military service begins with a training course here at the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School. Should training be neglected, standards would fall, troops’ morale would decline and deviant behaviour would corrupt the Force’s members and corrode the competence of the Force,
President Granger said, “As the Guyana Defence Force continues to build on its traditions and techniques of training in the local terrain – in the country’s grasslands, highlands, rainforests, and wetlands and in the waterways it is instilling, also, the values of duty, discipline, identity, integrity and loyalty befitting officers and soldiers:
– Duty obliges officers to display dedication in the performance of their functions;
– Discipline is the primary means of maintaining organisational cohesiveness;
– Identity determines how officers view their comrades, their corps and their country;
– Integrity demands honesty in officers’ relations with their superiors and subordinates; and
– Loyalty binds officers to the service of their country.
The president then challenged those officers to uphold the motto of the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Officer Cadet School – “I serve Guyana.”
Officers were required, by their conduct to exemplify the School’s maxims – Courage, Discipline, Honesty, Loyalty, Steadfastness and Worth.
Granger said, “I charge you with the stewardship of the Force. I urge you to be as courageous, competent and committed as those who, 50 years ago, boldly defended our motherland.
Today, we celebrate the Force’s operational capabilities which were based on supreme courage, superior organisation and superb training”.
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