Ministry of National Security

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Staff Sergeant Dwayne Hill (second right), instructs members of the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF) on aspects of piloting a plane, during an anniversary display in Savanna-La-Mar, recently.

Sixty years of service to Jamaica's human resource development, and the recorded achievements of the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF), were showcased to the public in an exhibition staged by the force recently at Independence Park in Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland.

The 60th anniversary exhibition saw hundreds of persons, including members of the JCCF participating in demonstrations, marches and educational presentations from leading officers of the force.

The Jamaica Combined Cadet Force is a 3,500-strong voluntary youth organization with military and civilian concepts regarding young males and females. It provides young people with a feeling of stability, purpose and the insight to lead.

Commandant of the JCCF, Colonel Lemuel Lindo, told JIS News that the JCCF was strategically positioned to offer disciplined and quality training to young people for top leadership roles in the future.

"The JCCF is undoubtedly a very necessary avenue of training for our young people, and in fact the government wishes to have the recruitment expanded but we have obstacles in that regard in that not enough persons are coming forward to be leaders . notwithstanding, the force has achieved remarkable successes in its mission of training youngsters for leadership and citizenship," Colonel Lindo said.
He stressed that the JCCF presently needed disciplined, loyal and educated persons to exploit the opportunity for leadership training.

Major Rohan Robinson, Sub Committee Chairman of the JCCF 60th anniversary celebrations, who as a youth was a cadet, told JIS News that activities to celebrate the force's milestone got underway last November and would cover other areas such as Mandeville, Port Maria, Montego Bay and Kingston.

"The primary objective of the celebrations is to showcase the JCCF to the different parts of Jamaica and to highlight it in a way which will serve to increase the numbers, and to generate more interest from youngsters, the corporate world and from people who are willing to volunteer their services," Major Robinson noted.

Mentioning several prominent Jamaicans who have had contact with the cadet force, including Colonel Trevor McMillan, former Commissioner of Police; Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, Chief of Staff of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and others, Major Robinson urged citizens to support the JCCF by encouraging their children to be members.

Sergeant Leroy James, a sixth former at Cornwall College, told JIS News that he was honoured to be a member of the JCCF. He spoke glowingly of his training in becoming a pilot with the air wing of the force, and the high level of discipline and businesslike attitude that had been instilled in him.

"The Jamaica Combined Cadet Force is a para-military organization that engages in map reading, field craft, weapons training, adventurous training, waterman ship and first aid, among other things," he said.

"The force basically prepares you for the outside world, giving you the confidence and the drive and the will power to go out into the world and make a change and a difference. The force is a vehicle that enables you to work well and in accordance with the accepted principles of society," Sergeant James told JIS News.

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