Igam joint forces to graduate

A church parade at the St Paul’s Chapel, at Igam Barracks in Lae, started off a one week program of graduation activities for the 38 cadets of the PNG Joint Forces Academy.

Chief instructor of the PNG Joint Forces Academy, Lieutenant Colonel Donald Aisuk, said this was the final church parade before the 38 cadets graduate on Wednesday, August 24th.

“The cadets have undergone a joint forces commissioning course which took 18 months,” said Lt Col Aisuk.

“During the 18 months, they have gone through training modules of leadership tactics, management, physical training and administration.

“The course itself is 18 months but due to logistic support and delays beyond our control, they’ve been here for nearly two years.

“The joint forces commissioning course was introduced in 2016 under the Joint Forces College Act, which was passed in Parliament in 2020. This allows for candidates from the three services – the PNG Defence Force, the Correctional Service and the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary – to undergo the 18-month training as joint cadets here in Lae.”

Of the 38 cadets, 12 are from the Correctional Service and 26 are  PNGDF. From the group, only one is a female CS cadet.

“The Royal PNG Constabulary were with us, conducting training during the first iteration. This now will be the fourth graduating class when it became joint in 2016. Unfortunately, the police had to pull out of this program due to reasons with the constabulary itself.”

The joint forces program faces key challenges such as logistics support and funding, however, the chief instructor said they mitigate these through support from the Australian Defence Force, the CS and other major stakeholders. 

Apart from the church parade, the cadets will take part in ‘Beat the Retreat Parade’ on Tuesday at 3pm, then ‘Graduation Parade’ at 9am this Wednesday.

(The only female cadet receiving her Bible from Commandant Joint Forces College, Commander Alexson Hannema)

Author: 
Carmella Gware