SUNGAI AKAR CAMP, Monday 21 September 2015 – A handing over ceremony to officiate the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Akhmar bin Mohammad Shariff as the Commandant of the Defence Academy, Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), was held at the Parade Square Defence Academy, RBAF.
Upon arrival, Colonel Haji Abdul Hadi bin Haji Saim, the outgoing Commandant of Defence Academy RBAF, was presented with an Honorary Salute followed by an inspection of the parade. The parade was led by Maj (U) Pengiran Yusri bin Pengiran Sharifuddin who is the Junior Intake Commander from Officer Cadet School, Defence Academy, RBAF.
Colonel Haji Abdul Hadi bin Haji Saim’s tenure as Commandant of the Defence Academy RBAF lasted for 26 months during which the Defence Academy was able to accomplish several great achievements. The Outgoing Commandant made reference to several impressive developments including refining and enhancing the Armed Forces Commissioning Board (AFCB); the incorporation of a Range Management Qualification Course (Level 3) and Academic Essay Writing Skills in the Commissioning Course; introducing a BTEC Level 5 in Leadership and Management that is awarded to Officer Cadets upon commissioning; the creation and refinement of Training Processes within the Defence Academy RBAF; an Instructor Selection Course (first of its kind in the RBAF); the introduction of a Defence Academy Virtual Learning Environment (DaVLE) and incorporating Survey Monkey for Validation Processes. Even by only mentioning a few achievements, it is without a doubt that the Defence Academy RBAF has progressed extensively in the past 26 months and has become a prestigious organisation within the RBAF.
The incoming Commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Akhmar bin Mohammad Shariff, started his military career in April 1987 and graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) in April 1989. In 2001, under the RBAF Scholarship programme, he obtained his BA (Honours) in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom, specialising in International Relations and Security Studies. He was also awarded a Master of Science (MSc) in Military Studies from Bangladesh Defence Services Command and Staff College in 2009. He has held several Command and Staff Appointments ranging from postings within Royal Brunei Land Forces, the Support Service RBAF, Ministry of Defence and Defence Academy. His last appointment was as the Senior Directing Staff in Command and Staff College, Defence Academy, RBAF. During that time, he formed the team responsible for developing and conducting the first Command and Staff Course in Defence Academy RBAF in 2010. Recently, he has returned from attending the Royal College of Defence Studies Course in London, United Kingdom.
The ceremony continued with the signing of the Handing Over Certificate between Incoming and Outgoing Commandants, therefore officially completing the handover. A doa selamat was read by a member of the Religious Unit RBAF to bless the ceremony and with the new Commandant in place, Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Akhmar bin Mohammad Shariff received an Honorary Salute and later inspected the parade, which came at the end of the ceremony and marked the finale of this momentous occasion.
