By Noela EBOB BISONG
General Philip Mpay, General in charge of Military and Para-military Training Schools in Cameroon has urged some soldiers who graduated from the first phase of their training at the Rapid Intervention Battalion BIR, to uphold the nation and its values.
The General was speaking at the BIR training base in Man O’ War Bay on Friday, June 21, 2024, as the 1,230 trainee soldiers were presented in front of the Cameroon flag.
“By presenting the national flag before you today, I do hereby exhort you for total respect to the nation and all its values. The presentation of the flag is also an opportunity for you to take your oath to defend the nation, its constitution and all its institutions from all its enemies, both internally and externally. From today, you have become soldiers to serve the Republic of Cameroon”, the General told them
According to Lt. Colonel Tapele Oumarou who is in charge of training at the Man O War Base, “The recruitment started off with 1,307 elements. Today, we had a total of 1,230 which means 77 of them didn’t complete the training,” he revealed. The Colonel told the press in an interview that the 77 were dropped due to medical challenges and loss of faith.
The four months training which commenced on February 19 this year took place at Man O’ War Bay and at the BIR Training Center in Maroua, Far North Region.
Lt. Colonel Tapele Oumarou detailed that, “These young soldiers have learned how to be soldiers. This means that for the past four months, they have learned how to conduct themselves individually as soldiers during combat and how to manipulate their weapons. We trained them to be strong and gave them the spirit of soldiers”, he said. The soldiers were also trained on having devotion and love for nation.
“After their four-month training, they were presented in front of the flag of the republic and they took the engagement to serve the republic according to the standards of the Ministry of Defence”, the Colonel told the press.
He said after two weeks, the soldiers will return to complete the next phase of their training which will go on for the next five months. At the end of this, they will then become full commando soldiers under the BIR.
“They acquired the basics of the army in this first phase. In the next phase, they will engage advanced courses”, Tapele said.
During the event, the soldiers took an oath of service before the national flag and pledged to serve the nation with total abnegation, honour and fidelity.
Captain Moussa Adamou who is the Director of Training at the BIR Training Center made a presentation of the best five trainees who were rewarded with certificates of recognition.
The ceremony was also marked by several displays by the trainees of some of the tactics that they had acquired over the past four months.
Amongst those who assisted during the ceremony was the Supervisor of the BIR Base at Man O War Bay, Col. Henri Belinga, Col. Serge Mvondo, Col. Touang Djakinkie and top officials of the BIR who came from the Presidency. Also present was the Commander of the Limbe Military Garrison, Navy Captain Eric Landry Njonou Akoutou, traditional rulers and others.
One of the soldiers by name Issa Mark-Roy reacted that, “Today, I have succeeded and it’s a great joy for me and my family. I want to thank all the BIR hierarchy for my success”.