08 Aug 2017

In times of war, physical fitness becomes a matter of national vigilance and honour.

These words were echoed by Brigadier Charles Nkele at the closing ceremony of a week-long Exercise Toughman competition at Sir Seretse Khama Barracks (SSKB) in Mogoditshane on August 4.

Brigadier Nkele stressed the importance of maintaining physical fitness on the troops emphasising that “it should never be compromised even in times of peace.”

As a result, he said physical training programmes in the military should be designed to produce strength, endurance, stamina, special agilities, leadership as well as initiative, emotional stability and the will to win.

Given the complexities of modern warfare, he said technical training backed by highly fit members of the force was required.

“Military combat readiness thrives on fit troops and this involves their physical handling of all aspects of a demanding mission, while remaining healthy and uninjured,” he emphasised.

He therefore mentioned that regular military training helped build and maintain troops’ psychological health and resilience, which motivated them to achieve military set tasks and objectives.

He went on to explain that even though warfare has become a lot more technical, it does not mean that physical capabilities of a fighter were no longer relevant.

Brigadier Nkele opined that it had been proven scientifically that performance level and physical capabilities of troops and individual fighters decreased fast during the battle and that there was not enough time to recover physically or do physical exercise during operations.

Hence he said armed forces should be well trained to retain their ability to move and negotiate battle conditions in terrains that may be huge and difficult to deal with.

He also said nowadays soldiers were expected to deal with both conventional and non-conventional challenges hence they should be able to deal with the physical and psychological stress caused by battle, terrorist attacks or any likely tiresome crisis.

For his part, team leader of the visiting team from South African National Defense Force, Major Erick Baloyi, said they were thankful for having been accorded an opportunity to participate in the exercise.

He said the South African army started pariticipating in the exercise since 2012 and it has been a remarkable and exciting journey.

The exercise he said has yielded a number of efficiencies on their part. For instance, it has always tested planning and tactical skills under very strenuous conditions with very limited time available.

“Some will say in common parlance to think outside the box, but here you learn to throw the box away,” he quipped.

Since BDF has introduced women in the army with their first batch of privates graduating last year, this year’s teams had fielded women soldiers and one of the female participants, Private Offinah Selawe said she was happy with her performance in the entire competition.

She said the last phase of the competition at the firing range proved tough for her because she was exhausted but overall she was happy that her team mates were so supportive.

On that note, officials have praised the ladies who participated in the competition from both BDF and SANDF saying they have indeed proved that they are the epitome of success and their contribution can no longer go unnoticed as they have proved tough, bearing testimony that with discipline nothing was impossible.

The annual competition’s objectives were to validate the level of proficiency of participating units in physical fitness small arms firing and obstacle crossing skills.

Also, it sought to validate the participants’ level of mental robustness and endurance and to instill and enhance the spirit of team work, confidence, aggression and the will to win under pressure. Some 16 teams participated in the competition. ENDS