RESERVISTS FOR CONGO.
Defence RESERVISTS FOR CONGO For the first time since Citizen Force regiments were deployed in Angola and Namibia in the 1980s, an SA reservist unit will see active foreign service, in the peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
A company of 150 soldiers, selected from 1200 part-time reservists recruited last year, has spent six weeks at the army's combat training centre at Lohatla, followed by peace support training at Phalaborwa. The unit will be deployed in March in the DRC for a six-month stint.
The reserve force is also working with university medical schools in Gauteng, with the aim of recruiting, as officers, about 20 future doctors to establish a reserve force medical health capability. If successful, the project will be extended to law and engineering.
Recruitment is also occurring in the regular SANDF for the first time in more than a decade, with the intake last month of nearly 2500 young volunteers. But only 2% are white, whereas SANDF plans call for 24% white recruitment as part of achieving representivity in all ranks.
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18 Février 2005 à 10:27 dans
- zsandf (anglais)
