An annual conventional battle readiness demonstration has been held by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to test its combat power capabilities and refresh the tactics of her Infantry and other supporting units, as a battle group.
The made-up symmetric battle situation is organized yearly as part of the curriculum of GAF’s Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), for its Senior Division (SD – a year-long Masters in Defence and International Politics course for particular Majors and Lieutenant-Colonels) to expose them to real battle situations and to improve upon their leadership capabilities.
The multinational SD students who are from Ghana, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa etc, had the opportunity of firing heavy live guns of the 66 Artillery Regiment during the demonstration prior to the actual enacted battle.
The demonstration, which took place at the Bundase Training Camp on Friday, 26th October, 2018, had a well-rehearsed Infantry together with accompanying support units engage an assumed enemy who had intruded the territorial integrity of Ghana and was on a tangent towards sensitive national installations, after crossing the Volta River and establishing a crossing site for its camp.
This year’s demonstration had the Signals Unit deploy electronic technology in the form of drones – to locate enemy positions and movements and jam devices – to disable communication between enemy battle units.
The battle group of GAF comprised of selected representation of units under the Southern Command (a formation under GAF) namely; Fifth Battalion of Infantry (5BN) – who were hosts of the demo, supported by 66 Artillery Regiment, 64 Infantry Regiment (Special Forces), 48 Engineer Regiment, Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (Recce), Signal Regiment, Air Force providing aircraft services for rappelling incision defence by the Special Forces.
Dignitaries present at the function included the Minister of Defence and Member of Parliament for Bimbilla – Dominic Nitiwul, the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) Lt-Gen OB Akwa, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) – Maj-Gen William Azure Ayamdo, and the Commandant of GAFCSC – Rear-Admiral Seth Amoama, amongst many.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode, Bundase, Accra Plains