TANAH JAMBU, Thursday, 17 November 2022 – Six officers comprising five Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) officers and one Ministry of Defence civilian officer received the OBOE Endeavour Academic Excellence Award from the Australian Government in recognition of their outstanding results during the recently concluded 12th RBAF Command and Staff Course (CSC) 2022. The ceremony was held at the Defence Academy Royal Brunei Armed Forces (DA RBAF).
The ceremony was attended by Air Vice Marshal Stephen Meredith, Australian Deputy Chief of Air Force as Guest of Honour. Equally, in attendance was His Excellency Luke Arnold, Australian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, Deputy and Acting Deputy Service Commanders, Acting Deputy Joint Force Commander, Head of Inspectorate Unit RBAF, Director of Personnel, Australian Defence Adviser to Brunei Darussalam, as well as RBAF senior officers.
The ceremony started with the recitation of
Surah Al-Fatihah and was followed by welcoming remarks from Colonel Pengiran Sharifuddin bin Pengiran Haji Yusof, Commandant of DA RBAF. In his remarks, he congratulated all of the award recipients and conveyed his deepest gratitude to the Australian Government for the OBOE Endeavour Academic Excellence Award platform that has undoubtedly assisted to raise the standards of the Command and Staff College DA RBAF. He also expressed that Brunei Darussalam highly values the defence relationship with Australia and views the programme as an excellent opportunity to further strengthen military cooperation between both countries. Air Vice Marshal Stephen Meredith, in his speech, conveyed that the award is an opportunity to deepen understanding and links between Brunei Darussalam and Australia. He then congratulated all award recipients for their outstanding results and emphasised that it is a landmark in transition of applying the military arts into practice. He also expressed his appreciation and values the RBAF’s continuous invitation for Australian officers to attend the Command and Staff Course in Brunei Darussalam.
The Guest of Honour was then invited to present the award to six recipients, namely 800 Major Awang Abdul Aziz bin Haji Razali, Royal Brunei Land Force (RBLF), 802 Lieutenant Commander Wan Abdul Naafi bin Metussin, RBN, 819 Lieutenant Commander Pengiran Haji Khairul Anwar bin Pengiran Haji Abu Bakar, RBN, 827 Major Lizawati binti Haji Suhaili, DA RBAF, 989 Major (U) Arif Syazwi bin Haji Md Idris, Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF) and Dayang Nur Khadijah binti Ramlli, Ministry of Defence.
The OBOE Endeavour Award is an academic excellence programme from the Australian Government, awarded to CSC participants who have achieved outstanding results during the course. These officers will be invited to Australia to meet key leaders of the Australian Defence Force, tour selected Australian military bases, participate in educational and cultural activities, and engage in dialogues as well as discussions. This year’s award recipients will leave for Australia from 05 to 11 December 2022.
The programme is aimed to impart knowledge to the officers about Australia in particular its Defence Force, share commonalities on the region’s security and interests, as well as to foster the relationship between the Armed Forces and enhance the bilateral defence relations between Brunei Darussalam and Australia. This event is the fifth in the series since it started in 2018.
The name ‘OBOE Endeavour Award’ was chosen to commemorate the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the successful liberation of Borneo from the Japanese occupation during Operation OBOE in World War II, which marked the beginning of Brunei Darussalam and Australia’s defence relationship.
ENAM PEGAWAI MENERIMA ANUGERAH
OBOE ENDEAVOUR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
TANAH JAMBU, Khamis, 17 November 2022 – Seramai enam orang pegawai yang terdiri daripada lima pegawai Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei (ABDB) dan seorang pegawai awam Kementerian Pertahanan telah menerima anugerah
OBOE Endeavour Academic Excellence dari Kerajaan Australia sebagai pengikhtirafan terhadap keputusan cemerlang di dalam Kursus Maktab Turus ABDB sesi ke-12. Acara tersebut berlangsung di Akademi Pertahanan Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei (AP ABDB).
Acara tersebut telah dihadiri oleh
Air Vice Marshal Stephen Meredith, Timbalan Pemerintah Tentera Udara Australia sebagai Tetamu Kehormat. Turut hadir ialah Tuan Yang Terutama Luke Arnold, Pesuruhjaya Tinggi Australia ke Negara Brunei Darussalam, Timbalan-Timbalan dan Pemangku Timbalan Pemerintah Angkatan Tentera, Pemangku Timbalan Pemerintah Angkatan Bersama, Ketua Unit Inspektorat ABDB, Pengarah Keanggotaan, Penasihat Pertahanan Australia ke Negara Brunei Darussalam serta Pegawai-Pegawai Kanan ABDB.
Acara dimulakan dengan bacaan Surah Al-Fatihah dan diikuti dengan ucapan alu-aluan oleh Kolonel Pengiran Sharifuddin bin Pengiran Haji Yusof, Komandan AP ABDB. Dalam ucapannya, beliau merakamkan ucapan tahniah kepada semua penerima anugerah dan penghargaan kepada Kerajaan Australia atas anugerah tersebut yang pastinya telah menyumbang kepada peningkatan taraf Maktab Turus AP ABDB. Beliau juga menyatakan bahawa Negara Brunei Darussalam amat menghargai hubungan pertahanan dengan Australia, dan melihat program berkenaan sebagai satu peluang yang berkesan untuk mengukuhkan lagi kerjasama ketenteraan antara kedua-dua buah negara. Sementara itu,
Air Vice Marshal Stephen Meredith, dalam ucapannya menyampaikan bahawa anugerah ini adalah peluang untuk mendalami persefahaman dan hubungan di antara Negara Brunei Darussalam dan Australia. Beliau turut mengucapkan tahniah kepada semua penerima-penerima anugerah atas keputusan cemerlang mereka yang merupakan mercu tanda dalam penerapan seni ketenteraan dan perlu dipraktikan dalam tugas harian. Beliau juga menghargai jemputan yang berterusan daripada ABDB kepada Pegawai-pegawai Australia untuk menghadiri kursus Maktab Turus di Negara Brunei Darussalam.
Tetamu Kehormat kemudiannya dijemput untuk menyampaikan anugerah kepada enam penerima iaitu 800 Mejar Awang Abdul Aziz bin Haji Razali, Tentera Darat Diraja Brunei (TDDB), 802 Leftenan Komander Wan Abdul Naafi bin Metussin, TLDB, 819 Leftenan Komander Pengiran Haji Khairul Anwar bin Pengiran Haji Abu Bakar, TLDB, 827 Mejar Lizawati binti Haji Suhaili, AP ABDB, 989 Mejar (U) Arif Syazwi bin Haji Md Idris, Tentera Udara Diraja Brunei (TUDB) dan Dayang Nur Khadijah binti Ramlli, Kementerian Pertahanan.
Anugerah
OBOE Endeavour adalah merupakan Program Kecemerlangan Akademik daripada Kerajaan Australia yang dianugerahkan kepada peserta-peserta Kursus Maktab Turus yang telah mencapai keputusan yang cemerlang semasa kursus tersebut. Pegawai-pegawai berkenaan akan dijemput ke Australia untuk berkesempatan bersemuka dengan Ketua-ketua Pertahanan Australia, melawat sebilangan pangkalan tentera Australia, mengikuti aktiviti-aktiviti pendidikan dan kebudayaan, serta melibatkan diri di dalam sesi dialog dan perbincangan. Penerima-penerima angerah pada tahun ini akan berlepas ke Australia bermula pada 05 hingga 11 Disember 2022.
Program ini bertujuan untuk memberikan kefahaman kepada pegawai-pegawai mengenai negara Australia khususnya Angkatan Tentera Australia, serta berkongsi mengenai persamaan di dalam kepentingan keselamatan serantau dan mengeratkan lagi hubungan antara kedua buah Angkatan Tentera serta meningkatkan lagi hubungan pertahanan dua hala antara Negara Brunei Darussalam dan Australia. Majlis penyampaian anugerah ini adalah kali kelima diadakan sejak ianya pertama kali diadakan pada tahun 2018.
Penamaan sebagai ‘Anugerah OBOE Endeavour’ dipilih sempena memperingati penglibatan Angkatan Tentera Australia dalam kejayaan membebaskan Borneo daripada penjelajahan Jepun semasa Operasi OBOE semasa Perang Dunia ke-2 dan ianya menandakan titik permulaan hubungan pertahanan di antara Negara Brunei Darussalam dan Australia.