By Major Yayah Brima
The President of Sierra Leone and Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), Brigadier-General (Retired) Julius Maada Bio, has made two major changes in the command structure of the Armed Forces.
The two top-ranking Commanders of RSLAF have been retired and given ambassadorial appointments. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lieutenant-General Peter K Lavahun, has been appointed as Ambassador to the Republic of Kenya. The Commander Joint Force (CJF), Major-General Fred D Alpha, has also been appointed Deputy High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The military commander, who has been appointed to replace the retired Three-Star General PK Lavahun, is One-Star General Idara Bangura, who has been the Head of all military operations in the Country.
Until he was appointed CDS, Brigadier-General Bangura was Assistant Chief of Defense Staff (ACDS) for Operations and Plans. Brigadier-General Bangura hailed from Kukuna in the Brimaia Chiefdom, Kambia District. He was born on 6th April 1968. He had his secondary education at Government Secondary School, Bo, Government Secondary School, Kenema, and Albert Academy, Freetown. Brigadier-General Bangura was enlisted into RSLAF on 3rd January 1993. He undertook his cadet training at the Nigeria Defense Academy (NDA) in Kaduna, Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was commissioned on 18th September 1993.
In recent years, Brigadier-General Bangura has held several military appointments, such as Commandant of the Peace Mission Training Centre, Deputy Chief of Staff at Headquarters of the Joint Force Command, director of Military Operations at the Ministry of Defense, Chief of Staff at Headquarters of the Joint Force Command, commander of 4 Infantry Brigade, Acting Commander of the Joint Force, and Assistant Chief of Defense Staff (ACDS) for Operations and Plans.
At Peacekeeping Operations, Brigadier-General Bangura served as Movement Control Officer for heavy-lift Operations and the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in Sudan.
During the outbreak of Corona Viral Disease, Brigadier-General Bangura was appointed as the National Pillar Lead of Operations and Security at the National Covid-19 Emergency Response Centre (NaCOVERC). The newly-appointed CDS holds the following qualifications: Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business Administration, IPAM, University of Sierra Leone; Master of Arts in Defence and Conflict Studies, King's College, UK; Master of Arts in International Security and Strategy, King's College, UK; and Post Graduate Diploma in Defence and Conflict Studies, GIMPA, Ghana.
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