Somaliland: First locally Trained Cadets Commissioned into the Armed Forces
The President of the Republic of Somaliland – who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the National Army – H.E. Muse Bihi Abdi attended the commissioning graduation of the first batch of officer cadets trained for the first time in the country in a ceremony held at the Abdullahi Askar Military Academy in Dararweyne, which is on the eastern outskirts of Metro Hargeisa.
The well-organized commissioning ceremony – for the first ever cadets locally trained – was attended by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Baashe Mohamed Farah, Chief Pilot Ahmed Mohamed Hassan (Ahmed Dheere – the former Somali pilot who refused to bombard civilians in Hargeisa in 1988), members of the government cabinet, various commanders of the armed forces, instructors at the Abdullahi Askar Military Academy, many other dignitaries, and the newly trained officers. Enormous speakers took turn congratulating the new newest batch of officers and reminding of the tasks ahead of them.
The Commander of Abdillahi Asker Military Academy – Colonel Abdullahi Mohamed Sardere – and the Head of National Army Training Division – Brigadier General Ahmed Ali Mohamed Tanzani – spoke at length about the various stages they have gone through in training the new officers who are graduating and stressed that they are well trained in every aspect and can be trusted to carry out any task that the nation needs.
Commanders of the Armed Forces – the Military, the Police, the Navy, and the Corrections – who also spoke at the ceremony praised the newly trained officers for the nation, underscoring that this batch is a testament to the nation’s self-sufficiency in producing officers. They also called on the newly graduates to discharge their obligations for the good of the nation by taking advantage of the knowledge invested in them and to be alert all the time for the national security and the protection of the Somaliland citizens.
Finally, the President started conferring ranks on the newly graduated officers as well as on the other officers who got promoted for various reasons. The president also cut the ribbon of the Military Academy’s fire station that has been just completed its construction.