The 2022 contingent of firefighters has completed initial military training at the Armed Forces Training Group (GIFA) in Bobo-Dioulasso. The ceremony marking the end of these six months of exercise took place this Friday, June 23, 2023 at Camp Ouézzin Coulibaly.
“Class 2022 soldiers of the Fire Department, your duty is to serve your army with loyalty, honor and fidelity. The flag to which you have the honor of being presented this morning embodies in itself what you give, what you defend. It is the heritage of sweat and blood bequeathed to us by our ancestors. It constitutes for all the rallying sign in unity…”. It is by this formula of the Chief of Staff of the Army, Colonel Théophile Nikièma, that the 2022 contingent of the Firefighters was presented to the flag.
Under the gaze of the commander of the National Fire Brigade and the authorities of the Hauts-Bassins region. Numbering 250, including 25 girls, it is on December 9, 2022 that these new recruits will join GIFA for initial military training. After 6 months of initiation, they are now hardened to the profession of arms. According to the battalion commander, Yves Bambara, commanding the GIFA of Bobo, “these young people showed tenacity and abnegation and brilliantly achieved the objectives of the training which consisted, among other things, in inculcating in them a military spirit, in making them seasoned fighters. Thus, their aptitude for the profession of arms is beyond the shadow of a doubt, as evidenced by the class average which is 14,510 ».
Indeed, the training of these future firefighters at GIFA was articulated in three phases. The first was devoted to adaptation, the second to toughening up and the last phase to consolidating what has been learned. Particular emphasis was placed on military and sports physical training, combat, shooting instruction, rifle shooting, armament and instruction on improvised explosive devices. They have acquired the values of discipline, courage, dignity and devotion, which constitute the primary qualities of a soldier or a paramilitary person.
And to maintain the achievements of the training, the commander of GIFA quoted Bonaparte who said that: “The first qualities of the soldier are constancy and discipline, valor is only the second”. « At any time and in any place, carry out the various missions entrusted to you by your leaders with determination, perseverance and dedication. Relentlessly engage in the execution of your missions with selflessness, with the sole concern of preserving the image of the National Armed Forces “, addressed the battalion chief Yves Bamabara to the 2022 vintage of the Firefighters.
The end of military training ceremony, in addition to the handing over of sleeves (epaulets) to the trainees, the performance of the promotion song, was also marked by the recitation of the ethics of the Burkinabe soldier. A sign of the promotion’s commitment to loyal service to the nation. The ceremony ended with a parade.
Ousmane TRAORE