GDF to open military & civil aviation school for Caribbean

…as refurbished Beechcraft plane, Bell helicopter commissioned

By Jarryl Bryan

A Guyana Defence Force (GDF)-run military and civil aviation school is in the works. President Dr Irfaan Ali has revealed that this school will cater for both local and regional students and will bring on board trained military instructors who served in both the GDF and other armies.
The President made this announcement on Saturday at Air Station London (Air Corps) Timehri, while giving the feature address at a ceremony to commission the refurbished twin engine Beechcraft aircraft. This aircraft was discovered back in 2017 in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and has since been converted for Government use.

“I have authorised work to be concluded before the third quarter of this year, to have a full presentation to the defence board of an aviation school. A military and civil aviation school, to be run and managed by the air Corps.”
“We’re going to reach out to all the retired assets from the Air Corps and those regionally, as we seek to build one of the most modern and advanced aviation schools in the Caribbean here in Guyana, providing training for all of the Caribbean,” the President said.

President Ali expressed hope that all the formalities could be completed by the end of 2023, so that by the first quarter of 2024, the school could be fully operational. He emphasised that the school would be open to training not only local and regional military personnel, but also training civilian pilots.
“We’re sparing no effort in ensuring that we put our Guyana Defence Force and the Air Corps, on the front line of modernisation and transformation. And creating an environment in which we are second to none, but only second to ourselves. This vision requires transformation in thinking and the approach to our work. The workplace culture. The workforce culture must change and change rapidly.”
“Aviation requires additional discipline. Additional responsibility. And we’re going to hold the leadership of the air corps accountable. This isn’t the season or time to be laid back. This is a time to be transformative in what we do. And I’m confident that we have the skills, the capacity, the talent in air corps. To achieve all that we set ourselves to achieve,” President Ali said.
President Ali further noted that they must break the “tradition” of losing highly skilled personnel, after they would have invested heavily in training them. According to the President, this can only be addressed by ensuring holistic career development.
“We can only do so if we create a comprehensive pathway for career development also. Those who are pilots and engineers, those who are safety officers, must see their journey not ending after retirement, but see right in Air Corps, their ability to transition into a new form of service. And that is what the school will allow us to do.”

Commissioning
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Commander in Chief of the armed forces commissioned a refurbished twin engine Beechcraft aircraft which was discovered back in 2017 in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and will now be used for Government travel. Also at the ceremony was a new Bell 412 EPI helicopter that has been purchased by the Government.
GDF Chief-of-Staff Brigadier Omar Khan spoke about the efforts currently underway to modernise the army. There is the Bell 412 helicopter in expanding the Air Corps’ capacity and its ability to protect Guyana’s territorial integrity. He noted that it also aligns with President Ali’s announced defence policy initiative.
“At the operational level, one of our roles mandated in the Defence Act is to defend the territorial integrity of Guyana. These assets are complementary to this role in defending our territorial integrity. The Bell 412, for example, enhances our capability to rapidly deploy forces to the most remote locations of our country and to respond to any emergency.”
“This Bell 412 will provide the platform needed for the Air Corps to save lives. It has a substantial role, a potential role in our territorial defence, to conduct surveillance, reconnaissance-type operations. This is in keeping with our national defence policy and it aligns seamlessly with the recent announcement from our Commander in Chief with the defence policy initiative,” Khan said.

Dornier
As a matter of fact, the President revealed that training is currently underway for members of the GDF’s aviation wing ahead of the impending purchase of a Dornier aircraft. Back in February, it had been announced that Guyana was in talks with the Government of India to procure patrolling vessels and a Dornier aircraft to better protect Guyana’s maritime boundaries. This contract, President Ali revealed on Saturday, should be signed by this year-end.
“It is my view that the modernisation of the Air Corps or the aviation wing of the Guyana Defence Force has just begun. So today as we celebrate the acquisition of these assets, we’re in the final stages of having a contract for another piece of asset. That is the Dornier. So, before the end of this year, we will have the contract in place for the Dornier.”
“And we’ll have another set of personnel from the Guyana Defence Force sent for training on the Dornier. So, we’ll have another complement of human resource assets with another asset, to ensure our borders and to meet the expanding demands of national development,” President Ali further said.
The idea of Guyana acquiring aircraft from India was first raised back in January 2023 when President Dr Irfaan Ali visited the Asian nation, where he toured Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company – Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), in Kanpur and inspected their CG-767 Indian Coast Guard 18-seater Dornier aircraft. The Guyanese leader was also given a presentation on the company’s capacity and capabilities.
According to reports coming out of that visit, President Ali indicated interest in purchasing two of the India-manufactured Dornier 228 aircraft for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), which has an aged fleet.
Dubbed as Guyana’s first major defence deal with India, this move to procure defence assets from the Asian Government comes on the heels of the Irfaan Ali-led Administration taking significant steps to modernise the GDF with the acquisition of new equipment and supplies as well as capacity building.
India and Guyana have already established strong defence cooperation, with several GDF members undergoing various levels of training with the Indian military. (G3)