Ugandan army recruits show off their skills

MILITARY | PASSING-OUT CEREMONY

NAKASEKE - President Yoweri Museveni passed out 2,919 army recruits Tuesday evening at the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) training school in Kaweweta, Nakaseke district.

Let's look back at how it went . . .

 

Relatives of the recruits made their way to the demonstration ground at the Oliver Reginald Tambo School of Leadership ahead of the ceremony.

The recruits, who included 74 females, had undergone training for the last nine months.

 

 

 

This was a big, important day for the army 'freshers', and they made sure to give their boots a shine prior to the start of the passing-out ceremony.

 

 

 

The men and women of the military do have families of their own. And for these families, witnessing the passing-out of their loved ones underlines a significant point in their lives.

 

 

 

These youngsters will be delighted to see the pillar(s) of their lives be given a nod by the commander-in-chief of Uganda's armed forces, President Yoweri Museveni, later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The recruits wore the characteristic patchy-green uniform as they awaited President Museveni's arrival.

That chopper you see in flight in the background is the one carrying Museveni. It was just about to touch down.

 

 

 

As expected, security was on piont.

 

 

 

There you are, in case you wanted a closer look at the machine . . .

 

 

 

Before making his way into the training school, President Museveni inspected a guard of honour.

 

 

 

After that inspection, President Museveni was driven into the school.

 

 

 

The Commander-in-chief wore his army fatigue and a green beret to give the entire look the distinct character it deserves.

 

 

 

 

The President was set to witness the skills the army recruits had been equipped with in their gruelling training.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Armed with rifles, the recruits sprinted and took positions behind trees and tree stumps at various points on the demonstration ground, as they fired their guns and advanced to attack and occupy an artificial position of the army.

 

 

 

One of the military exercises involved groups of recruits shooting down small metallic plates at a range of 100 metres.

 

 

 

 

It was military stamina on show through the tricky obstacle course.

 

 

 

The course involved leaping over walls.

 

 

 

Balance at work here . . .

If you found your Biology classes interesting, then you won't have a problem remembering that it's the semicircular canals in these recruits' inner ears that are aiding such kind of elevated balance.

 

 

 

 

Not sure what's aiding this stunt here though . . .

But what is undoubtedly clear is that to join the army, you are trained to be fast, fierce and fearless.

And steely too!

 

 

 

 

Mind over matter . . .

Upper body strength here. For how long can you hold on to the bars? These guys will stretch their mental strength to the absolute limits.

It's all in the mind, people. The spirit should be willing even when the body is weak!

The challenger above is called Tarzan. Here, soldiers mount the lowest log, walk the length of it, then each higher log until they reach the horizontal ladder. They grasp two rungs of the ladder and swing themselves into the air. They negotiate the length of the ladder by releasing one hand at a time and swinging forward, grasping a more distant rung each time.

It's tough. Trust me!

 

 

 

 

The wobbly section of the obstacle course . . .

Lose focus and down you go!

 

 

 

 

 Part of the horizontal obstacle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In his speech that lasted less than five minutes as darkness fell, the President said the professionals have a bright future in the army, but cautioned them to be disciplined.

"Of course, you are educated and you can easily learn the military topics. You only need to be disciplined and avoid contracting HIV and being destroyed by alcohol. Your future in the army is bright," he said.

 

 

 

Museveni noted that the army needs to be ideologically advanced and promised that the Government will continue to address its infrastructural challenges. He warned civilians who live near the military facility against encroaching on its land, and said there would be dire consequences if they tried to.

 

 

 

 

Museveni passed out the recruits after they had taken the oath, pledging to defend their country, its people and protect the President.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On his part, the Chief of Defense Forces, Gen. David Muhoozi, said the army requires improvement in some areas, such as training and infrastructure, as well as the continuous acquisition of modern weapons, and technology.

 

 

 

 

"We are revitalising divisional training schools and political education, among other things. Congratulations to you recruits," said the CDF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analysis by Pascal Kwesiga Armed with rifles, the recruits sprinted and took positions behind trees and tree stumps at various points on the demonstration ground, as they fired their guns and advanced to attack and occupy an artificial position of the army. The recruits fired AK-47s, sub machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and the earthshaking 60mm mortars as they advanced. A few seconds after the launch of the ‘attack', the place was filled with smoke from the rifles being fired. The smell of gun powder filled the air, and in a matter of minutes, the recruits had destroyed and occupied the position of the ‘enemy'. More than 10 of the recruits who were firing AK-47s and had been assigned specific targets in the enemy's defence area, picked the ‘bodies' (pieces of plywood that symbolised enemy fighters) and brought them before the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief, so he could see how many bullets had hit the individual targets Each of the recruits armed with AK-47 machine guns was given 10 bullets for the shooting exercise. Most of them emptied all the 10 bullets into their targets, save for the group commander, who only hit the enemy in the thigh with three bullets. His seven bullets missed the target, and when he approached the President, he identified himself, telling him: "These are the results," sending UPDF senior officers into laughter. But it was the machine gunners, RPG loaders, plus their colleagues who fired the 60mm mortars and set the enemy's defence on fire. President Museveni remarked: "Very good, very good job", as they advanced and showed him their handiwork after the attack.

 

 

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