Four days after the graduation of two batches from the Combined Services Military Academy, there is still much to write home about, given not only the specific context under which the graduation was organized, but more importantly, the very challenging nature of the responsibilities of an officer in a globalizing setting. Cadet Donkeng Joseph Kevin was unable to get his commission along his other comrades in arms, having been killed alongside other soldiers during an attack by the Boko Haram terrorist group on July 25, 2014 at Bargaram in the Far-North Region. He would have certainly proudly won the rank of Lieutenant along his other mates of the Lieutenant Youssouf Mahamat Bahar batch of the academy last Friday. But many Cameroonians should be wondering why a cadet officer, still in the heart of training and not even commissioned should be doing at a war front. Of course, the specific context in which an unjust war has been imposed on Cameroon justifies this particular case because in perilous moments such as those the nation is going through, every citizen must take whatever posture it takes to defend the fatherland. The demand is even more pressing for those who have chosen to serve the country under arms. Since the President of the Republic declared the war against the demonic sect in May 2014 in Paris, the Far-North Region has been under a siege of sorts while the rest of the national territory is also in a war footing because as it has often been said, the territorial integrity of the nation is sacrosanct and every soldier has, as primary responsibility, the defence of the territorial integrity of the nation. The rest of the nation has also been very attentive to what is happening in the main arena of fighting and has manifested its solidarity with our defence forces in many non-military ways, least of which are not the huge sacrifices being made even by innocent primary school children and the business community alike to chip in something to sustain the war effort.

But being an army officer today, even beyond the war environment which is Cameroon’s today is an entirely new ball game. Gone are the days when officers were pot-bellied gentlemen only seen playing billiard games in officers’ messes, repeatedly replying to the ‘yes sirs’ of juniors or barking out orders.

The officer of today is not only an ever-ready for combat soldier or one teaching by example, but also should be a widely-read individual who can very quickly decipher and interpret political, geopolitical and geostrategic phenomena as well as giving meaning to the moving sands of international relations, especially today where hotbeds of tension are strewn across the globe.

It is obviously for the seriousness of the Yaounde Combined Services Academy that several African governments sent their cadet officers here for training, confirming the institution’s label as a reliable centre of learning which fully addresses the military and diplomatic challenges of the world today. Being an officer today also requires coming into the forces with some rare skills because the armed forces are becoming an important arm in the nation’s socio-economic development effort. This explains the presence of numerous specialists such as medical doctors, pharmacists, engineers, architects, town and regional planners and other high-level scientists in the two batches commissioned last Friday. So, being an officer today means spreading one’s influence beyond the confines of the military cantonment or the battle field. Ordinary citizens today feel the real influence of military personnel, especially within officer ranks, in the national development efforts with road construction and repairs, medical services and multifaceted interventions in emergency situations being the best known.