The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has floated an exercise on a joint Combat Search And Rescue (CSAR) comprising special forces and air police K-9 operations code named ‘Exercise Taimako Yazo’ meaning ‘Help has Come’ in Kaduna.
Daily Trust gathered that the exercise demonstration, which took place at Rijana on the Abuja- Kaduna Highway, is expected to help address security challenges along that axis.
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Speaking as the special guest of honor at the occasion Saturday in Kaduna, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar, said the overall desire of the Airforce is to ensure that the personnel are trained and equipped to maintain very high level of combat readiness and operational effectiveness.
Accordingly, the Air boss said: “The exercise, which is based on a Combat Search and Rescue situation, was designed to exercise the capacity of our personnel to rescue downed aircrew who have had to eject or abandon their aircraft in emergency situations.”
He reiterated that the importance of training to a fighting force like the Nigerian Air Force could not be overemphasized.
He stressed that: “Regular purposeful training remains the cornerstone of military combat readiness which will ensure that the personnel are always at top physical fitness level, to be able, willing and ready to execute any mission successfully.”
“It is in realization of this that the Nigerian Air Force ensures that its personnel are mentally alert and physically fit at all times, through regular training and exercises to ensure that we remain continually willing, able and ready to defend the nation.
“It must be stated that even with today’s modern weapon systems, it is the personnel with competence that will make the difference in any current or future conflict situations.
“This philosophy has been incorporated into the NAF policies and regulations to ensure that every personnel maintains a high level of combat readiness that would ensure efficiency and effectiveness in conduct of a wide spectrum military operations.
“Accordingly, in the quest to achieve professionalism, Service members are subjected to excruciatingly difficult training procedures and exposures to various terrain conditions to enable them achieve and maintain a high level of combat effectiveness.
“This no doubt will help our personnel perform at the highest standards throughout their career” he stated.
Fielding questions from newsmen at the end of the exercise demonstration, the Air Chief said all hands must be on deck to ensure that this country is secured.
He stressed that the only way to secure the country was by having people with the required skills and training.
“If you train well chances are that you will be more effective and that is exactly the essence of this exercise, to build the required capacity, test and evaluate it from time to time in order to ensure we have all it it takes to address challenges that we are facing.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Special Operations Command (SOC), Air Vice Marshal Charles Ohwo, said the objective of the CSAR exercise was to rehearse the tactics, doctrine and synergy amongst first responders for effective CSAR operations of downed aircrew or other NAF personnel.
He said, the ability to rescue crew in hostile environment is particularly important as it can be adapted in anti-kidnapping operations as was recently done by the NAF in concert with other security agencies in the rescue of the 344 boys of Government Science Secondary School Kankara.
