By Musa Umar Bologi
Abuja
United Kingdom Joint Force Command is conducting a one-week course for strategic and operational planning officers of the Nigerian Armed Forces to improve their knowledge and skills on joint operational planning.
Declaring the course open at the Nigerian Army Resource Center, Abuja, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, said though Nigerian military had recorded resounding successes in it joint operations across the country.
He said: “The current trend in modern warfare has brought to the fore the need for joint operations among members of the Nigerian Armed Forces…significantly the ongoing joint operations by the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the North-east has significantly degraded the Boko Haram capabilities and restore some measure of peace in the area.
“North withstanding these achievements, we have reviewed some past and ongoing joint operations, and identified gaps which include lack of adequate Joint Operational Planning among others.
This has underscored the need to build operational capacity for the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the act of planning for join operations.
“It is expected that at the end of this course, participants will be well equipped with the skills required to plan for joint operations and for vertical, horizontal integration, including of information on the need to know basis during joint operations.”
He charged the participants to bring the knowledge gained during the course to bear on export planning process on the ongoing and future operations.
Leader of the team, Commander John Garrat, of the UK Joint Forces Command, said the course training team would share how the United Kingdom conducts planning at the operational level with the participants.
“We will share with the participants how the UK links up the tactical forces from the Army, Navy, Air Force and logistics, and bring their activities together to conduct joint operations,” he said.
