8 Operatives have been adorned Special Forces badges and graduated into Ghana Navy’s Special Boat Squadron (SBS), after successfully completing training at the Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC). This was the maiden 6-months Boat Squadron Basic Operative Capability Course 1/22, at the Command.
The rigorous 6 months training regime produced 8 out of 25, to be the first batch of operatives to be trained on Ghanaian soil, who demonstrated a few drills at their graduation ceremony held on Thursday, 15 September 2022, at NAVTRAC, Nutekpor, in the Volta Region of Ghana, with the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Maj GenThomas Oppong-Peprah as the Guest-of-Honour.
The COAS, who represented the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) – Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, emphasized the utmost need of the SBS that; in modern military setups, the establishment of Special Operations Forces has become a priority, as SFs remain one of the most flexible and useful instruments in a country’s national security toolbox, that can be used to protect vital national interests.
Maj Gen Oppong-Peprah furthered that if one considers that, economic activities in Ghana’s maritime domain keep increasing, with especially the Oil and Gas, fisheries sectors, being accompanied with dynamic and complex maritime security challenges, then GN’s quest to possess an elite, well-trained, well-equipped force, capable of conducting all kinds of maritime interdictions in specialized operations, cannot be over emphasized.
In his remarks,R/Adm IA Yakubu Chief of Naval Staff commended the Ghana Army for the use of the Army Special Operations Training School (ASOTS), Daboya, and the Ghana Air Force for provision of air support, in the training of the SBS, and urged for continued collaboration between the three Services of GAF.
The conduct of the SBS training in Ghana is one of the key conditions required to achieve the objective of capacity building in the Special Boat Squadron 5-year Development Plan, which is up to 2026, and was drawn by the Tripartite Partnership of the GN, the Danish Naval Special Warfare Group (Frogman Corps) and the USAFRICOM.
