From left: Major Lloyd Souvenir, Captain Anson Weekes, Captain James Fraser, Staff Sergeant Selwyn Douglas and Lieutenant Jermaine White
Four Guyana Defence Force officers and a staff sergeant recently returned from China where they successfully completed a number of military courses. According to a GDF release, Major Lloyd Souvenir, Captains Anson Weekes and James Fraser, Lieutenant Jermaine White and Staff Sergeant Selwyn Douglas completed the Army Battalion Commander’s Course, the Air Force Command and Staff Course, the Army Basic Staff Course, the Special Operations Platoon Leader’s Course and the Wired Communication Engineers Course respectively.
It was the first time that the GDF participated in the Air Force Command and Staff Course and the Wired Communication Engineers Course. Captain Weekes, who completed the former at the Air Force Command College of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force in Beijing, was recognised for excellent performance, as he achieved five A+ and nine A grades in the 14 subject areas.
Captain Anson Weekes poses with Major General Mia Jian, Commandant of the Chinese Air Force Command College
The course covered a number of areas, including National Security Strategy, Air Force Strategy, Air Force Combat Operation and Air Force Operational Organisation. Additionally, Weekes was part of a seven-man group which won a war game organised by the college, and he also copped the second prize at an academic forum for being part of a three-man group that authored a paper on “The Study of the Influence of Information Technology on Modern Warfare.” He was also required to defend his thesis on “The Construction of an Air Force Operational Command and Control System Based on the Influential Factors in the Guyana Defence Force.”
Staff Sergeant Douglas, who is also the first individual to benefit from the Wired Communication and Engineers Course, was exposed to a number of areas, including Digital Communication Technology, Data Communication Network, Fibre-Optic Communications and Tactical Communication.
Since 2000, GDF students have been annually undergoing various training courses in China, which ranks number three for countries where GDF trains its ranks. The first time that GDF officers were trained in China was in 1976.
