Word from Brigadier General,

Commander The G5 Sahel Defense College

on the occasion of the return of the trainee officers of the 1st class (2018/2019)

Messrs. the trainee officers of the 1st promotion of the G5 Sahel Defense College,

I would first like to express to you on behalf of the management of the G5 Sahel Defense College and on my own behalf, our joy and our pride in welcoming you to this school, as trainee officers of the 1st promotion. 2018-2019, all from G5 Sahel countries.

You have been selected by your countries to follow the higher military education of the second degree for the academic year 2018/2019 and you are the first trainee officers to access a multinational war school in the world; I congratulate you, because it is not given to any officer to reach this level of training and requirement. Under the direction of a team of civilian and military professors from the G5 Sahel countries and partners, you will be trained for more than nine months, in this newly acquired framework of the Mohamed Ben Zayed complex, conducive to intellectual work, to design, to plan and conduct joint and multinational operations corresponding to the threats of the present time.

Your education will not only be an opportunity to acquire effective working methods in a joint and multinational framework, but also to forge daily bonds of camaraderie that we hope will be lasting and beneficial for our countries. The content of the teaching places particular emphasis, on the one hand on the exercise of high-level command and, on the other hand, on knowledge of defense issues in the Sahel in particular and in the world in general. The intense work and personal involvement that are required of you throughout the year should be crowned by obtaining the 2nd degree Higher Military Education Certificate.

At the end of this training, you must be able to effectively hold positions of high responsibility within national or multinational staffs and in major departments, then to exercise important commands.

Distinguished Officer Trainees,

Finally, I would like to present this document to you, the Teaching and Operating Directive. We have developed it for you in order to facilitate, in a single document, the understanding of the operation and progress of your schooling. It is a real guide for you; harness it wisely and put it to good use! Its content may, however, evolve marginally depending on the opportunities that may arise.

To all of you, I wish you every success for this academic year 2018-2019.

Thank you,

Brigadier General Brahim Vall Cheibani CHEIKH AHMED