THE Ghana Air force has launched its golden jubilee celebrations with a call on all officers to be dedicated to their duties.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air-Vice Marshal M. Samson-Oje, who made the call, said the Ghana Air force had grown tremendously since its establishment as a flying training school, hence the need for the officers to be proactive in the discharge of their duties .
The GAF, he noted, could now boast three transport squadrons, a fighter ground attack squadron and a helicopter squadron located at the Accra, Takoradi and Tamale Air Force bases.
He said as the country joined the league of oil producing nations, the GAF had an important role to provide the capabilities needed to secure this very important national asset.
Air-Vice Marshal Samson-Oje announced that the Air Force would soon acquire new platforms, ground equipment, support infrastructure, as well as transport and rotary wing aircraft, and construct new hangers to enable it to discharge its duties effectively.
He said the Ministry of Defence was establishing a helicopter squadron at the Air Force Station in Takoradi to support national security priorities and oil exploration activities.
Despite its tremendous growth, the Chief of Air Staff said, the GAF was faced with numerous challenges, including operational infrastructure difficulties such as aged fleet and support facilities.
Air-Vice Marshal Samson-Oje enumerated other problems of the GAF as technical difficulty in meeting the demands of the United Nations operation in Cote d’Ivoire and the loss of officers to the public and private sectors of the economy.
The month-long celebrations, scheduled from October 29 to November 29, 2009, will be crowned with a raffle draw, with the winner taking home a KIA Picanto car.
In a related development the Minister of Defence, Lt-General J.H Smith (retd), has cut the sod for a 52-unit Air Force Golden Jubilee block to house 104 junior officers of the Ghana Air Force (GAF).
The building, which is expected to be completed in 18 months, is part of measures by the Ministry of Defence to tackle the accommodation problems facing service personnel as the GAF celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Lt-Gen. Smith said having been in the service before, he had foreknowledge of the precarious accommodation problem facing service personnel.
He explained that he made it a priority, on assumption of office as a Minister for Defence, to tackle the problem head-on.
He urged the Chief of Air Staff to forward any obstacle he might encounter concerning the building to the ministry for assistance to facilitate the early completion of the building.
Lt-General Smith paid glowing tribute to the first President of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who officially opened the Flying Training School in Accra on September 11, 1959.
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