NAF wings 16 new pilots

The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao has charged newly winged pilots of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to be relentless in the pursuit of excellence and professionalism as operational pilots and operators while working alongside their colleagues across other specialities in the Service.

The CAS made the call on Wednesday at the winging ceremony of 16 new NAF pilots and operators held at the  NAF Headquarters, Abuja.

He also enjoined them to strive to imbibe the doctrine of jointness at the front lines as they synergize with personnel from sister Services and other security agencies in pursuit of national security imperatives.

According to Air Marshal Amao, the winging of the pilots was yet another step in the deliberate drive towards the realisation of his vision “to enhance and sustain critical airpower capabilities required for joint force employment in pursuit of national security imperatives”.

The  CAS expressed delight that through foresight and diligence, the Service had effectively keyed into one of the key drivers of this Vision which was to “pursue purposeful training and human capacity development”.

Speaking on the significance of the winging ceremony, the CAS noted that for the NAF to function efficiently, both as a highly technical Service and as a fighting force to be reckoned with, it must have the right mix of numerical strength and qualitative manpower in all relevant competencies.

This, he said, informed the need to pursue training of NAF personnel both locally and overseas.

Air Marshal Amao further stated that another set of 11 student pilots was currently undergoing training in South Africa, while three others were undergoing Alpha Jet conversion in Egypt.

He added  12 student pilots were undergoing Super Tucano training while four others were undergoing helicopter training in the United States of America.

According to him, “locally too, over 100 pilots are currently undergoing various types of flying training ranging from Basic Fighter Training, Basic Transport Training, Ab-Initio Flying Training, Initial and Basic Training and Helicopter Pilot Training at various NAF flying training institutions nationwide 

“These training efforts are targeted at ensuring combat readiness at significantly higher levels to counter both domestic and foreign threats to the nation’s security and the wellbeing of all Nigerians.”

The CAS  appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari, for providing the enabling environment for the NAF, and indeed the entire Armed Forces, to function more effectively, despite budgetary constraints.  

Speaking earlier, the Chief of Training and Operations, Air Vice Marshal James Gwani had said that four of the new pilots recently completed their Military Style Basic Helicopter Pilot Training at the Draken Europe Helicopter Academy United Kingdom while the other 12 were trained locally at the 401 Flying Training School, Kaduna.

He also stated that the 16 pilots went through the rigours of flying and operational training and their winging would no doubt boost NAF’s operational manpower disposition especially as the NAF is inducting and expecting more platforms to address the various security challenges across the country.

Air Vice-Marshal Gwani thereafter expressed profound gratitude and appreciation to the CAS, whose leadership had created the enabling environment for timely turn out of pilots and operators in the NAF.

The winging ceremony was the fifth under the current NAF leadership of Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, a clear indication of his strategic mindset which is being hinged on enhancing NAF’s operational capacity to effectively tackle current contemporary security challenges.

The winging ceremony had in attendance Branch Heads, Directors and relatives of the winged pilots.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Lagos Is Second Least Liveable City In The World For 2021

Lagos is the second least liveable city in the world for the year 2021. This is according to the most recent annual ranking put together by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)…

FACT CHECK: Did UNICEF Say Blocking Children’s Access To Pornography Constitutes Human Rights’ Infringement?

CLAIM 1: A Twitter user claims UNICEF said any efforts to block children from accessing pornography might infringe their human rights.

VERDICT: MISLEADING!