Army Chief of Staff Brigadier Mark Phillips yesterday announced that Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Lee leads the GDF promotions list which includes 83 Officers and 436 Other Ranks.
President Donald Ramotar approved the promotions in accordance with the Defence Act Chapter 15:01 of 1977, effective from January 1, 2015, a press release from the army said. Lee, who is the Base Commander of Base Camp Stephenson has been promoted to Substantive Colonel. The army has also promoted the largest ever number of Officers to the rank of Colonel at the same time. It is also the first time that four female officers were promoted together in the senior officers’ bracket.
Lieutenant Colonels Jawahar Persaud, Cargilll Kyte, Patrick West, Nazrul Hussain, Ann McLennan and Paul Arthur were promoted to the rank of Acting Colonel. Colonel Gary Beaton who heads the GDF Coast Guard, has been promoted to Acting Captain Coast Guard, the equivalent to Acting Colonel.
Acting Lieutenant Colonels Dwain Jervis, Trevor Bowman and Kenlloyd Roberts were confirmed in their rank while Majors Collin Henry, Mark Thomas, Courtney Byrne, Natasha Stanford and Lorraine Foster have been promoted to Acting Lieutenant Colonel.
Ten majors have been confirmed in their rank, while Substantive Captains Tyrone Smith, Marvin Chichester, Lancelot Lynch, Christine Bradford-Porter, Lloyd Glen, Clifton Sam and Nigel Langhorne have been promoted to Acting Major. Nine Acting Captains, including one woman are now confirmed in their rank while 14 Substantive Lieutenants have been promoted to the rank of Acting Captain. Eight Acting Lieutenants have been promoted to Substantive Lieutenant while six Second Lieutenants have been promoted to Acting Lieutenants.
In the Coast Guard, Acting Commander (CG) Orin Porter, Acting Lieutenant Commander (CG) Roger Nurse and Acting Lieutenant Paul Castello have been confirmed in their rank while substantive Sub Lieutenants Shennel Europe, Raul Williams, Quincy Agard and Andre Kwang have been promoted to acting Lieutenant (CG). Five Acting Sub Lieutenants have also been confirmed in their rank and Midshipman Eweart Andrews is now an Acting Sub Lieutenant.
Ninety-six of the 436 Other Ranks that have been promoted have been confirmed in their rank while 272 have been elevated in rank. Heading this group are Warrant Officers Class Two Marlon Daniels and Raul Rodney who have been promoted to Acting Warrant Officers Class One. Warrant Officers Class Two: Marvin Pilgrim, Sekou Mitchell, Christopher Harmon, Bryan Ferdinand, Ray Herman, Andre Worrell, Wilfred Semple and Selwyn Douglas were confirmed in their appointment. The remaining 253 Other Ranks were promoted through ranks ranging from Acting Warrant Officer Class Two to Acting Lance Corporal.
The Chief of Staff decorated the newly promoted Senior Officers with their new badges of rank at a Badging ceremony held on Monday afternoon. He was assisted by Colonel Administration and Quartering, Captain of the Coast Guard John Flores. Brigadier Phillips extended felicitations to all the newly promoted Officers and Other Ranks, noting that the promotion recognises them for their performance, professionalism and service within and without the GDF. To this end he singled out Colonels Jawahar Persaud and Ann McLennan who both hold other positions outside of the army but in continued service to the nation. Persaud is the current Accountant General while McLennan is a sitting Magistrate.