President Bharrat Jagdeo, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has approved the promotion of 494 members of the Guyana Defence Force.

A release from the GDF, said that 78 Officers and 416 other ranks were promoted with effect from January 1, 2009.  This group includes 52 officers and 254 other ranks who were elevated in rank, and 26 Officers and 162 other ranks who were confirmed in their rank.
Leading the promotions list are Substantive Lieu-tenant Colonel S.C. James and Acting Lieutenant Colonel G. Beaton.

According to the release, those who were appointed to the “substantive “(Sub) rank have earned their confirmation in that rank after previously holding the “Acting “rank.

Meanwhile, four majors have been confirmed in their rank, while Substantive Captains C. Byrne, L Souvenir, M. Ramjag, C Welch and Woman Substantive Captain L Foster have been promoted to the position of Acting Major.

Further, four Acting Captains and one Substantive Lieutenant have been promoted to Substantive Cap-tain, while eight Substantive Lieutenants, including one female, are now Acting Captains.

In the Coast Guard Department Acting Lieute-nant Commanders (army equivalent Major), S. Harmon, V Burnette and R Charles lead the promotions.

In the GDF Reserve, Substantive Majors L. Sobers, T Stuart and M Nezamudeen have been promoted to Acting Lieutenant Colonel, while Substantive Captain I Alli is now an Acting Major.  Additionally, One Acting Captain has been confirmed as Substantive Captain and 10 Substantive Lieutenants, including three females are now Acting Captains. One Second Lieutenant is now an Acting Lieutenant.

The release further said that of the 416 Other Ranks that have been promoted, 162 have been confirmed in their rank while 254 have been elevated.

Leading these promotions are substantive Warrant Officers Class One (WO1) R. Lewis, T. Holder and R Marks and Woman WO 1 C Braithwaite.

The remaining 250 other Ranks were promoted through ranks ranging from Acting Warrant Officer Class One to Acting Lance Corporal.
These promotions were made in accordance with Part 111 Section 16 of the Defence Act Chapter 15:01 of 1977.