One of the most widely known articles of the United States’ Army Uniform Code of Military Justice states that “Any commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman who is convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.” The international public has become familiar with the expression ‘conduct unbecoming’ through books and films which have often focussed on the foibles and failings of military officers.
This, perhaps, is what Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff Commodore Gary Best had in mind when he told two dozen officer cadets at a recent parade that “discipline within the military is under question.”
The Chief of Staff is correct in concentrating on discipline, particularly the conduct of cadets and commissioned officers, at this time. There have been far too many incidents reported in the press, not merely of conduct unbecoming of an officer but also of conduct that is so manifestly criminal that it is unbecoming of any citizen.
At present, a commissioned officer languishes on remand in the Georgetown prison on a charge of shooting to death one of his private soldiers at a hinterland camp. Another faces a court martial trial for negligence in relation to the theft of several assault rifles and pistols from a bond. One more could yet be implicated in allegations of torture of two Buxton villagers, a matter into which the Chief-of-Staff has promised an investigation.
Then, there was the unforgettably unspeakable case of the Guyanese officer cadet who was attending the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst when he was indicted on several counts of handling stolen goods, forgery and theft.
At lower levels, the behaviour of non-commissioned officers and soldiers has been just as bad, suggesting shortcomings in the supervision and, perhaps, training that they receive from their officers. Two non-commissioned officers have been charged with causing the death of an officer cadet while on training last year.
Last month, a soldier was found guilty of manslaughter for killing of another soldier at a camp on the East Coast. And a 19-year-old soldier was badly burnt when another soldier deliberately set fire to a building at a military camp in the hinterland. Only in October, a member of the force was arrested over the death of another soldier whose body was found in the barracks. And so the story goes.
These reports are not military secrets; they have been published in the press over the years. Something must have been going wrong for a very long time for so many egregious crimes to have been committed so often by so many. Misconduct must be corrected and the place to do so is on the initial training courses when cadets and recruits enter the force. Those courses must be modernised and their curricula must be revised to produce more disciplined officers and soldiers.
Commodore Best told the cadets that they were being promoted at a time of great challenges and changes in national security, in light of the surge in crime on the coastland and trans-border criminal activities in the hinterland. Officers are expected to be trained to be multi-talented in different types of military operations; but they must also be trained to behave correctly towards each other and to the general public.
Attended by officer cadets from Antigua, Barbados, Belize as well as Guyana, the current officers’ course has a huge obligation – not just to the foreigners but particularly to the local boys – to ensure that the quality of instructions being imparted identifies and corrects the mistakes of the past and also sets high standards of conduct for the future.
Coming in the wake of the sweeping purge in the force’s hierarchy in which, following the retirement of the Chief-of-Staff, four of the most senior officers were removed, Commodore Best might find that the greatest challenge the force faces could come from the unbecoming conduct of its own officers.
