SA Air Force welcomes candidate officers
THE South African Air Force (SAAF) has welcomed scores of candidate officers who have undergone training since the beginning of the year.
In a welcoming commission parade at the SAAF College in Pretoria yesterday, the officers were reunited with their loved ones after their training over a six-month period.
According to the Chief Director of Force Preparations, Major-General Lancelot Mathebula, the candidates began an educational journey designed to shape them into confident servant leaders on January 16.
Mathebula said the event was meant to celebrate all SAAF candidate officers who had sacrificed their family time as they underwent months of training in various fields at the Air Force College.
He said they had received training in, among others, leadership, management and officership.
“We are here today to honour, applaud and celebrate the significant milestone you have achieved.
“As officers, you now have a duty to be exemplary members of the Department of Defence. You have reached the end of your respective journeys,” he said.
“As we rejoice months of your hard work and sacrifice, it’s crucial … how it is aligned with the SAAF’s vision, mission and strategic goals.”
Mathebula said those goals were the fact that the air force was heavily invested in development and the implementation of a new strategic direction which was outlined in the Air Force Vision 2030.
He said it focused on developing a safe, secured, innovative, resilient, compliant and ethical alignment with the complexity of airspace operations in the information age.
“Second, it is to develop an integrated, agile, modernised, oral battle shaped to provide effective airspace power capabilities.
“Third, we need to execute innovative resilience and cost-effective, sustainable programmes adaptable to the freed environments of operational requirements and ensuring that the Air Force was a major player in the military space power in the African continent,” he said.
Mathebula added that the officers had to make sure that the Air Force was a major contributor towards national building projects.
“As officers, you will be entrusted with the welfare, discipline and training of your subordinates.
“From today you will be regarded as role models and expected to hold the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and ethical conduct,” he said.
Subsequent to the parade, Defence Minister Thandi Modise will officially appoint them as officers.
Thereafter President Cyril Ramaphosa, who serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the SANDF, will sign commissioning certificates.
The introduction of the junior leadership into the organisation through the parade significantly takes place during Youth Month celebrations. This will attract media coverage.