President Donald Ramotar has approved the promotion of Colonel Mark Phillips to Brigadier and he is the new designated Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Chief-of-Staff.
President Ramotar, who is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Chairman of the Defence Board, identified the Brigadier as the Chief-of-Staff designate and Chairman of the Joint Services Coordination Council, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said yesterday.
It added that Phillips is to assume the command of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) on the retirement of Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Gary Best on September 20, 2013.
According to a GDF biography, Phillips hails from Linden, where he attended the Christianburg Primary School and the Christianburg Wismar Secondary School (Multilateral School).
He joined the GDF in December 1980. He is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, in the United Kingdom and has held several appointments, including Colonel (Administration and Quartering), and Colonel (General Staff) in the GDF’s Defence Headquarters, during his 30 years of military service. He was also Guyana’s Head of Delegation to the Inter-American Defence Board from 2008 to 2009, and was up to 2011 Guyana’s non-resident Military Attaché to Venezuela.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Management from the University of Guyana (1998), and a Master’s Degree in Public Sector Management from La Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic (2000).
Meanwhile, GINA said that Ramotar has also approved the promotion of Colonel Julian B. Lovell to Brigadier. The badging ceremony for Brigadiers Phillips and Lovell will be held at the Office of the President on Monday at 3pm. The swearing in ceremony of the new Chief-of-Staff will take place at the Office of the President on Monday, September 16, 2013 at 10:30am.
