Guyana - Military Personnel

Ninety percent or more of GDF and GPF personnel are Afro-Guyanese and the conventional wisdom is that they must then be connected to the People's National Congress [PNC] -- but this is an over-generalization. Many GPF officers take their jobs seriously but lack the resources to take on better equipped and organized criminals, just as many GDF officers take pride in their professional duty to defend the state.

The British government strove to ensure an ethnic balance within the Special Service Unit (SSU). Its reasons were twofold: Guyana was already racially polarized in the 1960s, and the police force consisted mostiy of Afro-Guyanese. The British were successful in recruiting a balance of Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese cadets to fill the junior officer ranks. Indo-Guyanese were also well represented among students at the Mons Officer Cadet Training School in Britain.

Enlistment into the Force is voluntary for Officers and soldiers and there is no discrimination against women. Much of the basic training for all arms and services is done within GDF Training Schools, which have trained many Officers and soldiers from Commonwealth Caribbean territories. Many soldiers have gained valuable training and skills while serving In the Force, they have gone on to become key staff members in the sister military organizations - the Guyana People's Militia (now the Second Infantry Battalion Group Reserve) and the Guyana National Service.

The military establishment over the decade 1975-1985 was at an all high. This was a direct response to Venezuela’s overt acts of aggression as a surrogate of the capitalist world during the years of the Cold war. The Guyana Defence Force was forced to grow very slowly due to restricted capital inflows and necessary recapitalisation suffered while at the same time real wages dropped lowering the standard of living of the members of the Force.

However, Guyana’s renunciation of socialism in 1985 and the end of the cold war four years later saw a lessening of political tension and Venezuela’s de-escalation of forces in close proximity to the frontier with Guyana. Further, the Structural Adjustment Programme undertaken by the government of Guyana and calls for an ‘affordable army’ resulted in significant reductions in military spending over the period 1985-1992, severely shrinking the military establishment to levels not consistent with the GDF’s role and tasks.

In 1991 armed forces included 1,700-member Guyanese Defence Force (GDF), unified service with ground, naval, and air elements; 2,000-member National Guard Service, reserve unit; and two paramilitary organizations: 2,000-member Peoples 's Militia and 1,500-member Guyana National Service.

Political change in 1992 did not witness any early significant change in the fortunes of the GDF. The new government, while claiming that they were committed to financial arrangements that pre-dated their ascendancy to office, barely concealed their distrust initially of this organisation which they felt played a significant role in denying them political power over the years.

The Force’s composition reflects military Officers with compulsory ages of retirement of 45-55 years and Other Ranks with retirement ages of 40-45 years. Generally recruited at ages 18-25, military members are contracted to serve for an initial period of not less than 3 years but there is an expectation of military service for a period of 20 years. Military personnel are also eligible for retirement benefits if they so chose after a period of 20 years service.

Membership of the Force reflects ethnic imbalance with 85% of its members being of African ancestry. However, it must be noted that service within the GDF is voluntary and the eligibility standards and selection processes are subject to public scrutiny.

The work force of the sugar and rice industries consist primarily of East Indian Guyanese. This phenomenon makes it difficult for the Force to recruit young men from East Indian communities as East Indians make up a significant percentage of the general work force in the two industries. For the Guyana Defence Force this is a labour repressive environment. Too few East Indians are available for recruitment into the Force. An unlikely consequence is the inability of the Force to achieve ethnic balance in these circumstances.

By 2008 the female component of the force reflected 10.92% of the strength. This number must be considered too high when Force policy precludes the placement of women in Combat Arms (front line fighting units). The civilian component reflects 13.08%. The policy in the past allowed for the recruitment of civilians to fill posts in key areas such as finance and budgeting because of a paucity of such skills within the force.

This situation was meant to be corrected over the medium to long term, with the employment of civilians in areas of menial labour such as sanitation. It may now be necessary to consider contracting out the menial civilian jobs to a firm and employ highly skilled civilians in specialised areas who will also serve as teachers and instructors for skills transfer. Further, the policy was meant to preclude the employment of civilians between the ages of 18-25 who were eligible for recruitment and military training. These policies have not been rigorously applied.

The Guyana Defence Force has a quality Officer Corps educated at the graduate and undergraduate levels capable of interpreting and understanding national values and interests. A greater challenge to understanding these same interests and values are expected from the other ranks who are less educated. Education must now expand to include legal and human rights and greater emphasis must be placed on academic education at the other rank level. The goal is to provide education at all levels for all levels. There should be no doubt in our minds that the more educated the Force the easier it would be to take ownership of national values and interests. In this context leadership, at the Officer and Non Commissioned Officer levels, is critical so that the entire Force embraces these national interests and value systems.

High levels of retention over the past years and unchecked promotions resulted in a bottleneck at the top of the organisational structure. This led to increased competition, conflict and reduced esprit de corps.

A deliberate study of the Force’s organisational structure indicated that it primarily focused on ranks and appointments of our human resource personnel. Its core product is the Force’s Establishment. This document simply summarises the ranks of the Force against the organisational structure. It is a tool that allows knowledge of quantities as it relates to personnel.

Internal training revolved around the concept of identifying ranks to rotate through Training Corps for a specialized period. Selected ranks undergo a Staff Training module that sharpens their instructor’s skills rather than for them to become qualified instructors and prepare them adequately to train courses. Therefore, ranks on completion of Staff Training must accumulate a specified number of training hours under frequent and certified supervision by Training Corps.

In the past, the concept that drove training needs of producing a ‘Multidimensional soldier’ was found to be expensive as it required spending more training dollars on one soldier to produce a crack trooper. The funds were spent but with less than desired expectations and results. The underpinning philosophy in the new training concept is training should be role specific as against the traditional ‘multidimensional soldier’ concept.

The new training concept includes academic educational programmes organised in a phased and tiered manner to prepare Force members to complete CXC level and promotion examinations. This will result in increased attendance by Officers and Other Ranks at tertiary institutions. A Force training doctrine will be produced which addresses all aspects of training in the short and long term.

Retirees represented 8.28% of the force’s strength in 2008, a situation that had spiraled out of control over the last 10 years. The re-enlistment of retirees stifles growth, falsely inflated actual strength figures and deprived the Force of available manpower for active, hazardous duty. While recognising that some retirees may possess skills that the force requires, they place the GDF in the precarious position of having temporary employees in permanent positions.

The Commission of Inquiry tasked by President David Granger to examine the conditions and circumstances facing veterans of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana People’s Militia and the Guyana National Service (GNS), commenced formal interviews from tomorrow, August 31, 2016. The aim of the commission is to improve the conditions of retired ranks, most of whom are retired by 40, following their service to the country. Additionally, the Commission examined ways to improve the Veteran’s Home and other issues, including benefits provided to the families of those who are deceased and displaced records of veterans’ contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).

Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon, March 3, 2017, received the final Report from Col. (Ret’d) Desmond Roberts, who headed the Commission of Inquiry (COI) that was mandated by President David Granger to examine the conditions and circumstances facing veterans of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana People’s Militia and the Guyana National Service (GNS).

Minister Harmon, in accepting the Report from Colonel Roberts at the Ministry of the Presidency today, said that the Government is fully committed to examining the recommendations contained, with a view of implementing them as far as practicable.

In 2015, at a Remembrance Day reception, President Granger announced the convening of a National Veterans’ Commission to look into the living conditions of veterans and make recommendations for improvements. On that occasion he also announced the return of a fixed annual State subvention for the Guyana Veterans’ Legion.

The Head of State was firmly of the view that young military officers must know that they can look forward to a comfortable and dignified retirement.