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Relations between Gibraltar and The Gambia strengthened as Governor holds meeting with country's President
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HE & CO watch instruction
Relations between Gibraltar and The Gambia have been strengthened further with a meeting held there between the Governor and Commander-in-Chief Sir Adrian Johns and the President of that country.
The meeting was regarded as 'significant' in The Gambia, and it received front page treatment.
The Royal Gibraltar Regiment was in The Gambia providing further training, and Sir Adrian took advantage of it to visit for the first time.
As British Forces Gibraltar put it, the regiment's Commander-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Sir Adrian Johns, was hosted in The Gambia for the first time. As well as seeing all aspects of the training programme, Admiral Johns was invited to the State House to meet the Gambian President, His Excellency Dr Yahya Jammeh and several government ministers where ‘everyone was very appreciative of the RG’s work.’ This was viewed in The Gambia as a significant meting and received front page newspaper and television attention.
A team of fourteen instructors from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment has now returned from The Gambia where, together with two RGP instructors, they ran a Peace Support Operations course for over four hundred members of the Gambian Armed and Security Forces. This training is now mandatory for all Gambian units prior to deploying on UN peacekeeping operations in Darfur.
It is a measure of the success of the RG’s course that its closing parade was addressed by Major General Ousman Badjie, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff of the Gambian Armed Forces and by the British High Commissioner, Mr Phil Sinkinson.
In his address, General Badjie stressed that, ‘The accolades and positive feedback we receive from our overseas deployments are made possible by these professional training programmes provided by the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.’
‘It has been a real pleasure for me to command the RG Training Team,’ said Captain Charles Bonfante, ‘You couldn’t wish for a more professional group of soldiers. I should also acknowledge, though, that the Gambian soldiers who we have worked with have contributed immensely to the success of the course. They are extremely receptive to our training and it’s rewarding to see that they take everything they can from our lessons and put that to good use.’
Under the control of the Chief Instructor, Colour Sergeant Julian Valverde, the training covered a wide range of peace support skills, such as patrolling, vehicle check points, searches and mine awareness. Although all the Gambian troops covered these core skills, their commanders were then extracted for extra training in topics such as patrol planning, radio procedure, map reading and report writing. Personnel who work in headquarters were also trained in Operations Room procedures.
The training culminated in a two day exercise in which the troops operated out of a realistic patrol base, just as they would on peace support operations. The exercise tested all the skills which the Gambian troops had learned throughout the course.
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
Several days after the meeting between the Governor and The Gambian president, the President and the Defence Chiefs hosted a dinner for the RG’s instructors. A reception was also held by the British High Commissioner to show his appreciation for the ongoing contribution by the Gibraltarian soldiers to British–Gambian diplomatic relations.
The RG’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Colin Risso, spent over a week with the training team. He said: ‘I’m very proud to say that the Regiment has become an indispensable part of the Gambian Armed Forces’ training package. In providing this training, Gibraltar’s soldiers are contributing to peace in Sudan. Our relationship with the Gambian Armed Forces is solid and we are looking at ways we can continue to build on what is a very successful mission which ultimately saves lives.’
Elsewhere, Sergeant Ronnie Wallace and his team of Gambian military tradesmen carried out one of their community projects which have become an important feature of the RG’s work in The Gambia. At an isolated village school they build a further two classrooms to add to the valuable work they carried out last year. Back in Yundum Camp, Sergeant Jonathan Sardeña helped his group of vehicle mechanics as they learned how to learn to strip and reassemble their Land Rovers and trucks.
‘Although this wasn’t my first experience of one of these training courses,’ said Captain Charles Bonfante, ‘It was my first time I had been there as the Officer Commanding and the number of high profile events meant that I had a particularly busy time. It was challenging to coordinate and be involved in strategic level issues such as our Commander-in-Chief’s visit and the Presidential meetings whilst overseeing operational training at the same time.’
NEXT MOVE
The team is now back in Gibraltar, preparing to deploy to the UK next week on a month-long RG exercise. Meanwhile, the Gambian soldiers they trained will be sent to Darfur in several Company sized deployments between April and October.
06-04-10
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