Paul Biya to enhance the army

A communique from MINDEF announces the establishment of the Rapid Intervention Brigade and the creation of training and combat centres for the troops.

The 2001 reform of the Defence Forces has been amended by a statement issued yesterday by the Minister for the Presidency in charge of Defence (MINDEF) which announces two decrees of the Chief of Army and President of the Republic.

The first is the establishment and the internal organization of the Rapid Intervention Brigade. This is a "great tactical unit of the Army" composed mainly of three elite structures of the defense forces, the battalion of airborne troops (BTAP) Koutaba, the famous "paras", the Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion (BBR) which is based in Douala and the Special Water Battalion (BSA), which is located in Tiko.

This Brigade, under the authority of the chief of staff of the army, has its headquarters in Bafoussam.

The second decree of the head of army referred by the communiqué of MINDEF covers the creation and organization of the centers of training and combat of the Army. There are three main missions assigned to them: the retraining of the army units; the endurance training of soldiers and units and the operational readiness of deployable units.

This decision aims to put at the disposal of the army, troops trained for different specialized fields of operation, thus the training center and endurance in forest areas (FRC) which has Motcheboum in the Upper Nyong, Eastern Region as a command post. It replaces the 123rd Motorized Infantry Company (123rd CIM) which will now be based in Garoua-Boulaï. It was then the training center for combat in the Sahel (CEAS) with command post at Mindif in the Department of Mayo-Kani in the Far North region.

Finally, there is the training and combat center in mountainous areas (EHIC) with Babadjou as its command post in the department Bamboutos, Western Region.

These decrees indicate an increase in the number of units of the Cameroonian defense forces currently present in different fields of operations. Expected is the various designated officials for the new military structures.