Best commissioned as Rear Admiral

President of Guyana and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces Donald Ramotar has promoted Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief-of-Staff, Commodore Gary Best to the rank of rear admiral.
Best is the first Guyanese to be promoted to rear admiral; a naval commissioned officer rank just above that of a commodore. He was bestowed with the badge of rank by head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon at the Office of the President on Monday, in the presence of his wife, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, senior GDF officials and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parliamentarians Winston Felix and Joseph Harmon.
In offering congratulatory remarks, President Ramotar said Rear Admiral Best has offered an exceptional service to Guyana by creating a safe haven for Guyanese and visitors. This, he said has helped the country to move forward with nation building and development of the economy.
“Mr President, it is a distinct pleasure on my part to thank you for the confidence the government of Guyana has invested in me, over the past six years as the chief-of-staff,” Best said.
According to him, he could not have done it without the support of his wife and the staff of the GDF, as he expressed optimism that others would follow his footsteps.
“I trust that I will be setting a path for others to follow. So for me, this is a fulfillment for my years of service, and testimony of the confidence the government of Guyana has in me, also the confidence of my own officers in me to rise to this level,” he said.
Rear Admiral Best has served the GDF for 33 years, with the last six years being as chief-of-staff. He is set to retire on September 17.
Asked about the current state of GDF, the newly-promoted rear admiral told the press that it is ready for transformation and modernisation. Since the commencement of the year, Best has been calling for a reformation in the policies governing the GDF. At the army’s conference in February, Best said in this current era, there should be a shift from the “conventional construct of territorial defence”, and a move towards “writing and defining of new missions for the Guyana Defence Force”.
According to him, the GDF must modernise its strategies and systems, positing that no amount of sophisticated equipment could enable a more professional and progressive defence force if it is not done in a strategic manner.