- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 30/Aug 09:12

Defence Force’s new formation

THE DEFENCE Force will not parade on Independence Day. But it will still be centre stage. On August 27, President Christine Kangaloo paid Teteron a “special visit.” A few days prior, Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge visited Camp Ogden. The state of emergency, in which the army takes on a heightened constitutional role, has been peppered with developments surrounding prisoners at military facilities. The disappearance of munitions at one such facility recently returned to the fore. And TT’s soldiers find themselves in the middle of geopolitical tensions between the US, its allies and Venezuela. All of it is a reversal of the usual low-key profile of the force. The march to this moment of prominence has been slow, but steady. The April 1970 army mutiny is a crucial episode in this country’s history. As is the heroic role the entity played during the traumatic events of July 1990. But the mushrooming of the deployment of joint police-army patrols in response to crime under Patrick Manning’s administrations generated unease given the perception that the military should not be mixed up with civilian life. There was even more worry when, in Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s first administration, the government moved to give soldiers powers of arrest. That move was stood down after independent senator outcry. Yet, attitudes toward the military have mellowed because of two factors. First, the continued escalation of crime has pushed for more collaboration between cops and soldiers, resulting in initiatives such as 2024’s Joint Task Force One. The other reason for normalisation has been the increased propensity of governments to call states of emergency. Ms Persad-Bissessar, back in government after a ten-year interregnum, turns once more to soldiers. There will be no celebration on August 31, but the military is poised to be feted in the upcoming budget due days later. The likelihood that the fiscal presentation will contain measures designed to reflect gratitude for the brave service of officers is high. The current administration might seek to bolster the ranks through things like improved salaries, better access to housing and loans, payment of overtime, widened medical coverage plans and improved gear and meal rations. Appropriations to effect such measures are overdue. They would be even more instrumental now. Though relatively small when compared with world forces, the Defence Force’s 6,000 members play an outsized role in the region. The scope of April’s Tradewinds exercise at Teteron, sponsored by the US Southern Command, and involving 24 countries, arguably reflected the strategic importance of this country. While the theatre of war has changed significantly since the days of the 1970s, it is clear the military has become, and will remain, more central to the well-being of the country moving ahead. The post Defence Force’s new formation appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.