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By Flight Lieutenant Ennie Rumbidzai Jombo
With the world becoming a global village, the need to foster international, regional and beneficial relations cannot be over emphasised.

As the convergence process brings people and technologies together, the upholding of international systems and standards has become imperative for nations that want to remain active participants on the global arena.

It is against this backdrop that the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) has made great strides in keeping up with the international standards through the provision of basic military training, technical training and staff training to internal members and those from the regional block.

Training is the bedrock of any military establishment world over. It is the cement and or oil that binds or lubricates the military realm. Internationally, there has been a move towards harmonisation of major military drills and procedures as the world trends towards collective security and a common future.

In this regard, all the training establishments in the AFZ have deliberately been made to take on board curriculums that support the internationalisation of the individuals.

This process has been made easy through benchmarking visits to regional and international countries. This has resulted in AFZ schools such as School of Flying Training (SOFT), School of Technical Training (STT), School of Academic and Staff Training (SAST), School of Supply Management and Accountancy Training (SMAT), Dog Training Services (DTS), and Regimental Training School (RTS) witnessing a continued increase in demand for training slots by other organisations and regional Air Forces.

The AFZ has also been compelled to continue making innovations on its training programmes to, not only align the services with those in the region but also to ensure the continuation of upholding the AFZ core  values.

Training Schools in the AFZ have impeccable histories depicted by the quality of Officers and Members who came out of them. To begin with, the School of Academic and Staff Training (SAST) was established in the early 1980s to professionally impart knowledge to Officers and Members thereby enhancing their effectiveness and efficiency in the course of their duties.

The idea was to achieve continuous staff development through training. The courses offered by the school are designed to cover a wide spectrum of programmes related to the military in general and the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) in particular.

The School enrolls Officers of the rank of Air Lieutenant to Squadron Leader for Junior Staff Course and Sergeant to Warrant Officer for Senior Non Commissioned Officers Management Course.

The School of Academic and Staff Training has transformed to a regional professional training institution where the enrolment consists of students from Sadc countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

The School has also attracted students outside the Sadc region when it enrolled students from the Republic of Rwanda. Over the years the number of allied students who enroll at the school has increased.

Students are also taught the need to be patriotic and uphold the country’s hard won independence through the various modules that they are taught during their studies.

As the students go through their training programmes, they are taught Civil Military Relations (CMR) which is a module which helps them to realise the need to be patriotic not only to the AFZ but to Zimbabwe as a whole.

Military excellence is one of the values that the AFZ inculcates through training and is upheld throughout one’s career. This is achieved through high standards of assessment in and outside the lecture rooms. The students are thereby motivated to work harder in their exams and remain dedicated to their studies.

“Training is a holistic process. In trying to mould our students into responsible citizens we carry out regular inspections both in the parade square and in their rooms. This is important because it brings out how they behave in life. When one fails the inspections he/she is punished,” reiterates the Acting Commandant STT Wing Commander Brian Kaseke.

“For the AFZ to exist, there should be fighter planes to defend the airspace hence there is need to have efficient technicians to service these aircraft. An aircraft is a complex machine which the pilot has to fly. There is therefore need to produce a person who is able to do that job to perfection. We also try to encourage our students to be innovative. During On the Job Training (OJT) the students are given projects that they are supposed to work on and must submit them after the completion of the National Diploma. These projects are supposed to assist in solving some of the technical challenges that the organisation is facing,” elaborates Wing Commander Kaseke.

STT has enrolled students from Malawi, Namibia and apprenticeship students from Air Zimbabwe as a demonstration of the faith that other organisations and countries have in the AFZ’s training.

Other training schools in the AFZ have also witnessed a growth in numbers of allied students and students from other organisations within the country. To its credit the AFZ is self-reliant in terms of personnel manning the schools.

Occasionally instructors are sent for exchange programmes in other countries whilst capacity building through enrolling with civilian institutions is encouraged.