The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, yesterday, said successes so far recorded in the theatres of operation across the country depicted the dynamism of air power deployment in the fight against insurgency and banditry.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Warfare Centre, where he inaugurated its first course on basic air power for young officers, Amao also noted that air power had become a key determinant of operational effectiveness as well as a force multiplier in all ongoing operations in the country.
He said the reactivation of the Air Warfare Centre was in tandem with his vision for the Nigerian Air Force, with emphasis on “enhancing and sustaining critical air power capabilities required for joint force employment in pursuit of national security imperatives”, just as it aligned with two key drivers of his vision which “focus on doctrinal development and application of air power in joint military operations and pursuit of purposeful training and human capacity development.”
On the mandate of the centre, Amao affirmed that it must support the airman across the spectrum of air warfare requirements ranging from training and operational readiness to doctrinal and tactics development.
Such support, he noted, will enhance effectiveness by giving impetus to service-wide efforts that will translate existing materiel and human capacity into actual capabilities to fulfil air power tasks demanded by national defence and security imperatives.
The CAS charged the pioneer Commandant of the Centre, Air Vice Marshal Micheal Onyebashi and staff to ensure that the new institution maintained high standards while ensuring that it evolved new and dynamic approaches for NAF employment of air power.
By so doing, he said, the centre will play a significant role in the efforts to apply the military instrument of power so as to address the myriad of security challenges facing the nation.
He also used the occasion to appreciate members of the Air Power Consult for the development of the centre’s curriculum and new doctrines that cut across most combat and combat support specialties of the NAF.
Earlier, Onyebachi, observed that recent experiences and current realities in the various theatres of operations, where NAF was engaged underscored the imperative for a purpose-built institution focused on enhancing the effective and efficient application of airpower.
The situation, according to him, led to Amao raising a team of experts made up of respected retired senior NAF officers known as the members of the Air Power Consult, to midwife the establishment of the re-engineered air warfare centre.
A statement issued by NAF Headquarters said the commissioning of the centre was thus a product of numerous strategic sessions and background work by the consult, whose inputs were valuable in putting together the various curriculum for the programmes.
The Commandant commended the visionary leadership of the air force chief, who continued to seek, explore and invest in every venture that would advance the impact of airpower application in the security of Nigeria.
