 Commander, Maj Gen Oscar Nyoni, has said that the ZAF continues to carry out its constitutional){kind=link}
Zambia: The Deputy Zambia Air Force (ZAF) Commander, Maj Gen Oscar Nyoni, has said that the ZAF continues to carry out its constitutional mandate of safeguarding the Zambian airspace in addition to other roles.
Maj Gen Nyoni was speaking during a presentation on Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) and Stock Pile Management by staff from the United States Department of Defence, Zambia, at ZAF Headquarters, 09 August 2023.
The Deputy ZAF Commander said appropriate personnel training in Air Force core competencies was of great value to the institution. He said training was important to enhance ZAF’s capacity to carry out its primary and secondary roles.
Maj Gen Nyoni also made assurances that ZAF would continue to conduct humanitarian and relief operations and combat non-traditional threats such as flash floods, drought and smuggling.
Meanwhile, the Program Manager of Counter Improvised Explosive Devices, Shane Pollard, said his strategic plan was to develop a sustainable EOD training programme in line with the local policies and procedures.
Shane said it was important that the EOD programme was sustainable and that this was attainable through the training of trainers who would train others. Shane said he was focused on building capacity and a corp of Army and Air Force instructors to sustain the programme.
He said the EOD programme had success stories in Tunisia, Benin and Egypt, which was a Regional Hub Trainer in North Africa.
And speaking during the presentation, Staff Sgt David Gerig said it was important that countries shared a common understanding on the storage, management and disposal of explosives.
Once the training program is launched, Zambia has the potential to become a regional EOD trainer of trainers.
And United States Defence Advisor to the Republic of Zambia, Lt Col Tony J Stibral, said his Office was available to create linkages and military cooperation between the Zambia Defence Force and the United States Defence Force in the area of training.