The Directorate of Army Physical Training has expressed appreciation to the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya for the massive Infrastructural development in the new Headquarters located at the Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri, Abuja.
The Acting Director, Army Physical Training, Brigadier General Olawale Fawole who was speaking at the Opening of the Directorate of Army Physical Training Officer’s Conference, 2023 emphasised that the Conference, which is the first to hold at the new site has made the department the envy of other Corps and Services.
General Fawole emphasised that the Directorate has always sought for opportunities to enhance the capacity of its personnel, towards the actualisation of its mandate on fitness training.
“The theme of the conference, “Enhancing the Capacity of DAPT for Improved Fitness of Nigerian Army Personnel in Twenty-First Century Operating Environment”, was conceptualised and designed, to appraise current strategies on fitness training across formations and Nigerian Army Schools with a view to fine-tuning or reviewing our approach for better results and efficiency.
“Additionally, the need for combat aerobics for training in small numbers, within a small space and for short duration for troops on operation has become a central strategy. These issues therefore form part of the fulcrum for this conference” stated the Acting Director of Physical Training.
The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya who was the Special Guest of Honour at the event expressed confidence in the capacity of the Directorate of Army Physical Training (DAPT) and its leadership to continue to deliver on the mandate for fitness of troops for combat readiness.
This according to the Army Chief is towards the actualisation of his vision for the Nigerian Army which is “A Professional NA Ready to Accomplish Assigned Missions Within a Joint Environment in Defence of Nigeria”.
The COAS was represented by the Deputy Chief of Training Army, Major General Musa Etsu Ndagi who pointed out that since the Third Edition of the Conference in 2021, the Directorate has taken giant strides in reinvigorating fitness training in the army under the strategic guidance of the Department of Army Training.
“Please recall that my intent on training for this year, as outlined in the Training Directive 2023, is to have a better-postured force that would express its readiness to accomplish all assigned missions in all our Single or Joint Service operating environment. The need for appraisal of the various training innovations and initiatives, which have been implemented across the NA in the last 2 to 3 years has also made this Conference timely”
The Chief of Army Staff equally pointed out that the steps to be taken at the conference would fine-tune or review current approaches to fitness training while revealing the approval of the expansion of the Directorate with the creation of one new autonomous command and 3 staff directorates.
As part of the opening for the conference, the Directorate also took time out to showcase some of its Physical Training equipment and demonstrate how they are used during training exercises.