See why you should marry a soldier
SOME people think that a soldier cannot make a good spouse and bring about a happy marriage and wonderful family. This is wrong. Although our job is demanding and requires working away from home, it can still be safe to trust a soldier and later mary him or her.
By Lt. Deo Akilki
SOME people think that a soldier cannot make a good spouse and bring about a happy marriage and wonderful family. This is wrong. Although our job is demanding and requires working away from home, it can still be safe to trust a soldier and later mary him or her.
A good spouse is a matter of personality and character. If you were a womaniser, smoker or drunkard during your school days, you will still be the same whether you join the army, become a journalist or even a Minister.
Many UPDF officers and men are getting married and I have four invitation cards at the moment. The most recent weddings were those of Capt. Paddy Ankunda and Pte Terespher from the public relations office of the 5th Division. These people are living happily.
The number of non-smokers and teetotallers is rising as elites scramble to join the army. It is worth noting that booze no longer forms part of the menu on military functions, especially where our top commanders are in attendance. Some of our Generals are Born-again Christians, something unheard of before.
The fears that soldiers are war mongers are baseless. In the army we talk of keeping our morale high when we hear of war. Morale among the troops is very crucial in winning any war. However, this does not make someone a war monger but a brave and patriotic soldier. We only fight wars in the interest of the security of our country, our people and their property as demanded of us by the 1995 Constitution. We also love a country not at war with anybody so that we can improve skills through further training and our welfare and also be involved in peace-keeping operations. This is where we are heading.
One’s life would not be in a bigger danger just because he or she has married a soldier. everyone knows that if any soldier kills an innocent person he would not go scot free as was the case in previous armies. Our court system has limited bureaucratic tendencies when it comes to extra-judicial killings. There are no kicks and slaps in homes of soldiers as some people may think. On the contrary, many soldiers are always humbled by their wives. Soldiers are so humble when it comes to family affairs that their spouses are left run the homes. If our officers and men were rough, women would not be trailing them from operation areas.
There are fewer chances that soldiers will misuse the gun because they are trained on the effects of misusing the gun. Therefore, civilians who only learn how to shoot are more likely to misuse the gun than soldiers.
There might be memories of fleeing Amin soldiers raping people’s wives in public in 1979, and even killing the victims thereafter, but there are no known incidences of such behaviour in the UPDF.
Gone are the days when soldiers used to intimidate civilians. The wananchi know their rights and no soldier would dare slap anybody today because we know the repercussions. Civilians now tell off soldiers who try to interfere with their peace with words like “Muzei yabalongosa tetukyabatya†meaning, “We no longer fear you because the president rehabilitated you.†Therefore, a member of the UPDF would not slap his or her spouse or any other person. Our strategic relationship with the people has brought us together. In every Division there are civil military relations centres and public relations offices that are doing a good job. Bravo to the Chief Political Commissar, and the Directorate of Information and Public Relations.
Because of the philosophy of demystifying the gun, nobody can be shaken by the sound of cocking a gun. The gun has been too demystified that some people even try to grab it from a soldier who try to misuse it. Among any gathering of a resoanable size there is bound to be someone who knows how to use a gun and would not hesitate to disarm an unruly soldier. The chakamchaka training is still on at Kyankwanzi for those who may be interested in learning how to handle the gun.
Soldiers may be busy but this does not mean that we have no time for our families. Like any other civil servant we have pass leaves and time to rest. It takes 21 days to be counted “absent without official leave†if you are undisciplined.
UPDF soldiers are trusted to the extent that some people will always seek to put their business empires into their names not knowing that we are not supposed to run businesses. Moreover, we are trusted with the security of the whole nation of 27 million people who sleep comfortably knowing that we are there. If 27 million people can trust us, then why should one lady not trust one of us.
The writer is the UPDF Public Relations Officer and spokesman for the 5th Division
SOME people think that a soldier cannot make a good spouse and bring about a happy marriage and wonderful family. This is wrong. Although our job is demanding and requires working away from home, it can still be safe to trust a soldier and later mary him or her.
A good spouse is a matter of personality and character. If you were a womaniser, smoker or drunkard during your school days, you will still be the same whether you join the army, become a journalist or even a Minister.
Many UPDF officers and men are getting married and I have four invitation cards at the moment. The most recent weddings were those of Capt. Paddy Ankunda and Pte Terespher from the public relations office of the 5th Division. These people are living happily.
The number of non-smokers and teetotallers is rising as elites scramble to join the army. It is worth noting that booze no longer forms part of the menu on military functions, especially where our top commanders are in attendance. Some of our Generals are Born-again Christians, something unheard of before.
The fears that soldiers are war mongers are baseless. In the army we talk of keeping our morale high when we hear of war. Morale among the troops is very crucial in winning any war. However, this does not make someone a war monger but a brave and patriotic soldier. We only fight wars in the interest of the security of our country, our people and their property as demanded of us by the 1995 Constitution. We also love a country not at war with anybody so that we can improve skills through further training and our welfare and also be involved in peace-keeping operations. This is where we are heading.
One’s life would not be in a bigger danger just because he or she has married a soldier. everyone knows that if any soldier kills an innocent person he would not go scot free as was the case in previous armies. Our court system has limited bureaucratic tendencies when it comes to extra-judicial killings. There are no kicks and slaps in homes of soldiers as some people may think. On the contrary, many soldiers are always humbled by their wives. Soldiers are so humble when it comes to family affairs that their spouses are left run the homes. If our officers and men were rough, women would not be trailing them from operation areas.
There are fewer chances that soldiers will misuse the gun because they are trained on the effects of misusing the gun. Therefore, civilians who only learn how to shoot are more likely to misuse the gun than soldiers.
There might be memories of fleeing Amin soldiers raping people’s wives in public in 1979, and even killing the victims thereafter, but there are no known incidences of such behaviour in the UPDF.
Gone are the days when soldiers used to intimidate civilians. The wananchi know their rights and no soldier would dare slap anybody today because we know the repercussions. Civilians now tell off soldiers who try to interfere with their peace with words like “Muzei yabalongosa tetukyabatya†meaning, “We no longer fear you because the president rehabilitated you.†Therefore, a member of the UPDF would not slap his or her spouse or any other person. Our strategic relationship with the people has brought us together. In every Division there are civil military relations centres and public relations offices that are doing a good job. Bravo to the Chief Political Commissar, and the Directorate of Information and Public Relations.
Because of the philosophy of demystifying the gun, nobody can be shaken by the sound of cocking a gun. The gun has been too demystified that some people even try to grab it from a soldier who try to misuse it. Among any gathering of a resoanable size there is bound to be someone who knows how to use a gun and would not hesitate to disarm an unruly soldier. The chakamchaka training is still on at Kyankwanzi for those who may be interested in learning how to handle the gun.
Soldiers may be busy but this does not mean that we have no time for our families. Like any other civil servant we have pass leaves and time to rest. It takes 21 days to be counted “absent without official leave†if you are undisciplined.
UPDF soldiers are trusted to the extent that some people will always seek to put their business empires into their names not knowing that we are not supposed to run businesses. Moreover, we are trusted with the security of the whole nation of 27 million people who sleep comfortably knowing that we are there. If 27 million people can trust us, then why should one lady not trust one of us.
The writer is the UPDF Public Relations Officer and spokesman for the 5th Division