GDF Chief of Staff to be redesignated Chief of Defence – Pres Ali announces

– other structural changes on the horizon

The position of Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), currently held by Brigadier Omar Khan, will be redesignated Chief of Defence, as announced by President Dr. Irfaan Ali during Thursday’s opening of the Annual Officers’ Conference (AOC).

The Commander in Chief announced on Thursday that this AOC would be the last occasion when the designation of Chief of Staff of the GDF will be used, because the position is being changed to Chief of Defence, in line with regional and international norms and practices.
“Let me congratulate the Chief of Staff and all the senior officers of the Guyana Defence Force for yet another Annual Officers’ Conference. This would be the last Officers’ Conference where the term Chief of Staff will be used. In keeping with the regional structure and international structure, we will move towards the designation as Chief of Defence, instead of Chief of Staff,” President Ali announced.
This comes even as President Ali indicated that the GDF would be undergoing massive restructuring over the next few weeks. And further, he noted that while the Force has faced its challenges in the last three years, the work and unity the GDF has displayed shows that the security of the nation is in good hands.
“I want this conference to understand that as we move now to this agenda, described in a nutshell by the Chief of Staff that deals with the issue of National Defence Strategy, there will be, based on our assessment, some reorientation and reassessment of how we work and perform our tasks. And of course, we will have to re-engage at a different level,” the President declared.
“With the type of assets we’re investing in, there will be structural changes. To whom much is given, much is expected, so this conference must address the shift in our asset base – which would affect the shift in strategy, the shift in positioning; and then rework structurally how we adapt to these shifts in ensuring that we remain efficient and reliable,” he declared.
The Guyana Defence Force has been given a disbursement of $42.2 billion for 2024, an increase of 85 per cent. For his part, Chief of Staff Brigadier Khan spoke in some detail of how this budgetary allocation would be used.
“On the infrastructure side, our Force continues to have community engagements through infrastructure development in villages; and also, at the national level, (we are) involved in the rehabilitation and extension of the Eteringbang and Kaieteur Falls airstrips,” he explained.
“Our maritime infrastructure, we have commenced the expansion of the existing wharf and headquarters of the Coast Guard (in order) to facilitate and accommodate the increase of our maritime fleet. To note, we expect our metal shark, GDF Shahoud, in a few weeks.”
Further, he spoke of the GDF having acquired an aircraft hangar at the Eugene F. Correia Airport, which he noted would be renovated this year to house additional aircraft. Also slated for this year is the construction of a new GDF Headquarters building.
With intention to bolster the country’s defensive capacity, Government has allocated $42.2 billion of the $1.146 trillion Budget 2024 towards building the technical capability and assets of the GDF. The sum will go towards procuring, among other things, four new helicopters that would not only be used by the GDF, but also the Guyana Police Force.
In December 2023, one of the GDF’s newest helicopters was damaged in a horrific crash that claimed the lives of five servicemen. The helicopter suffered significant damage, particularly in the fuselage, with only a few pieces remaining. Brigadier (ret’d) Gary Beaton; Lieutenant Colonel Michael Shahoud; Lieutenant Colonel Sean Welcome; Lieutenant Colonel Michael Charles, and Sergeant Jason Khan were part of a seven-member crew on board the army’s Bell 412 helicopter when it lost signal near Guyana’s western borders on December 6, 2023. The chopper was found the following day in the forest of Region Seven with only two survivors.
Last month, President Ali had said there were active plans to step up spending in the security sector, not only on hardware, but on human resources. This comes on the heels of last month’s heightened tension with neighbouring Venezuela, which is laying claim to more than two-thirds of Guyana’s landmass in the Essequibo, and a portion of its EEZ where oil production activities are ongoing.
However, President Ali has made it clear that these efforts are merely aimed at bolstering the country’s defence capability, and not for any act of aggression.
President Ali and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, have agreed “not to threaten or use force against one another” during the historic face-to-face meeting in St Vincent and the Grenadines on December 14, 2023.