Asutuare (E/R), June 29, GNA - Brigadier General Francis Agyemfra (Rtd), Ghana's former envoy to Liberia on Thursday noted that the dramatic changes in the global political, social and technological scenes, coupled with the unending conflicts on the African continent called for a dramatic change on the approach and thinking of the military to contain this changes.

These challenges, he said, demanded an effective military that is well trained, physically, mentally, socially and with good democratic oversight, to better handle emerging trends.

"Good training is the bedrock of the military. It is vital and in the interest of the military to stay healthy," he said. He was speaking at the close of Inter-unit endurance march and shooting competition of the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces at Asutuare in the Eastern Region.

The competition is aimed at engendering a competitive spirit among the units in order to enhance fitness of troops in the command. The Units under the Southern Command include the First Infantry Battalion (1BN), Second Infantry Battalion (2BN), Five Infantry Battalion (5BN), the 64th Infantry Regiment, the 66 Artillery Regiment, the 48 Engineers regiment and the Recce Regiment. Brig. Gen. Agyemfra commended the Command and the participants for living up to the tradition and motto of the Command- "Kullum Shirri," meaning ever ready- and challenged them to continue to train to maintain the armed forces standard.

He however, cautioned the troops not to allow themselves to be tempted by the popular parlance "soldier Alafia" to engage in casual and unprotected sex because HIV/AIDS was a real threat to the military and the general population as a whole.

"Once you contract HIV/AIDS, you automatically deny yourself the right to participate in peacekeeping operations, and you become a liability to the Ghana Armed Forces, your family and the society at Large", he told the troops.

Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Okyere, General Officer Commanding, Southern Command told the media that at the moment, troops were taking part in a lot of peacekeeping operations, but the experience gained so far shows that without a strong and agile military, with good democratic oversight, all gains would be eroded overnight.

He said there was the need for a potent force that was the reason why his command was making sure that troops under it remain fit and are always ready to carry out task assigned them.

The units started the exercise with a 12-kilometre march to the Asutuare training camp of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), where they crossed obstacles after which they competed at the shooting range. Each unit comprised one officer and 33 men including two female soldiers.

After the competition, 1BN emerged the winners, receiving a trophy and a two million Cedi cheque as their prize. The 64 infantry regiment was adjudged the first runner up. They also received a trophy and a cheque of 1.5 million cedis.

The Recce Regiment took third position and was awarded a cheque of one million cedis.

All the female participants were awarded certificates of participation. This is the first time that it has been made mandatory for females to be included in the exercise.