WELL DONE SAMHS!!

“It gives me great pleasure to thank all the members of the Military Health Service who deployed on 13 May this year to the Comoros as part of the African Union Mission. Their deployment in a very significant way contributed in ensuring peaceful presidential elections in that country.”

South Africa’s role as ‘midwives of peace’ in the rest of the continent and particularly in the region continues to grow. It is within this context that the SAMHS as an institution of Government needs to understand its role. The recent deployment to the Comoros is a clear demonstration of such understanding ”, said the Surgeon General, Lieutenant General Ramlakan, whilst addressing members of the SAMHS Command Council on Tuesday 24 May 2006. He added that the mission would not have been a success if it were not for the dedication and commitment of every member.

The SAMHS contingent that consisted of 90 members returned to South Africa on 17 May.

He used the opportunity to congratulate the recently-promoted Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and said that a well-trained and disciplined NCO Core forms the backbone of any military organisation.

Three-hundred and seventy-two (372) NCOs were promoted on 24 March 2006 of which 338 are black. This, no doubt, augurs well for the Human Resource transformation of the SAMHS. “The transformation of the SAMHS is a strategic issue for me, and these promotions are a definite milestone in the transformation of our organisation. These men and women are the future leaders of the SAMHS,” he said.

The Surgeon General also congratulated the winners of the Non Commissioned Officers skills competition that was held over the period 7 to 12 May 2006 at Lohatla in the Northern Cape. “The skills competition is more than just a friendly competition between units, but forms an integral part of our combat readiness in the SAMHS. Readiness is not an issue of choice for SAMHS, but part of our core business,” he said.

The results for the NCO Skills Competition are as follows:
• The Institute for Maritime Medicine took the overall honours with a score of 72.58,
• The School for Military Health Training was in a very close second place with 72.16; and
• The School for Military Training took 3rd place with a score of 70.71.