Creating Botswana�s Air Force

Richard Moleofe | Friday March 11, 2016 13:36

This includes three Hercules C130s which have had a reasonable amount of engine, airframe and avionics upgrades. I presume that the bulk of BDF budget is consumed by the Air Command because of the equipment they have in their inventory. If this happens to be the case, then why can’t an Air Force be brought on board straight away

There are several other air assets that go with these and I am not so much in a position to discuss them when taking into account the fact that BDF is still very much a closed organisation when it comes to security issues. The irony is that we are the only country in the world with this fleet size and not having achieved the status of an air force.

Again, the issue of National Security Strategy (NSS) comes into play as a guiding tool that shows where we want to go. The NSS addresses the tasks that, as a nation, are necessary to shape the global environment and provide enduring security. It provides a broad strategic context for employing military capabilities in concert with other instruments of national power.  Decentralised leadership is empowering,  but over-supervision disrupts teamwork. Delegation unleashes the best efforts and greatest initiative among all members of military teams. Delegation is especially important in joint warfare where service expertise is an essential building block.

Providing security for the nation and for its citizens remains the most important responsibility of a responsible and accountable government anywhere in the world. And this includes Botswana as well.

Our approach to national security has to be clearly grounded in a set of core values which include among others, human rights, the rule of law, legitimate and accountable government, justice, freedom, tolerance and opportunity for all. Those values define who we are and what we do.  They form the basis of our security, as well as our well-being and our prosperity in a democratic setting.

Therefore those leaders who fail or refuse to understand these important values, must be labelled traitors who are not interested in seeing their countries develop. 

Last year’s SADC Air Forces Exercise held in Botswana was looking at interoperability which can best be exercised if our current Air Command is given its rightful status. That will also address the issue of over-populating the ranks of general officers. At this exercise, it was only Angola, Botswana and South African air forces that displayed impressionable ability in the area of logistical air lift. The security environment is extremely fluid, with continually changing coalitions, alliances, partnerships, and new national and transnational threats constantly appearing, disappearing, or in remission. This fluidity means that we must be on our toes to arrest issues before they get out of hand. The independence of such agencies will give them an opportunity to develop and operate at levels that are not curtailed by anything. And this particularly goes with the promotion of the BDF’s Air Arm to an Air Force.

A single, overarching NSS brings together the objectives and plans of all departments, agencies and forces involved in protecting our national interests. It is a significant step with greater focus and integration to our approach. The aim of the NSS is to set out how to address and manage the diverse though interconnected set of security challenges and underlying drivers, both immediately and in the longer term, to safeguard the nation, its citizens, our prosperity and our way of life.

The broad scope of the NSS has to reflect on the commitment to focus on the underlying drivers of security and insecurity, rather than just immediate threats and risks.

If the international landscape as a whole is increasingly complex and unpredictable, so too is the security landscape at home. It is not a one man show who claims that he is a macho, seeing all and hearing all,. Everybody has to get involved when it comes to the NSS.

It sets out the guiding principles of our approach; our assessment of the major security challenges and drivers of insecurity; our responses to them; and how we will work together in taking the strategy forward. Throughout, it draws on a wide range of knowledge and activity across departments, agencies and forces which contribute to our single overarching national security objective of protecting our country and its interests, enabling its people to go about their daily lives freely and with confidence, in a more secure, stable, just and prosperous world. With the Commander-in-Chief as a former Commander at BDF, he is better placed to understand that the Air Arm is now overdue for an upgrade.

The upgrade will include the restructuring of the entire unit to fall in position with international standards of other air forces. This particularly will catapult the Air Force Commander to the rank of lieutenant general.  This will also affect the entire defence and security structure of our military in many ways.  The most critical aspect of this change will mean that vacancies will open at this establishment. Of course there are cost implications going with such restructuring, but these are necessary. What the Air Arm needs to become an Air Force is not the procurement of further equipment, but rather it needs a revolutionary change in the area of personnel.

The procurement of further necessary equipment can follow when the area of human resources has been addressed.

When the Air Arm Commander travels abroad, he will be at par with most of his colleagues and will therefore be accorded the necessary protocol that goes with the rank of Lieutenant General.