Bandar Seri Begawan - Forty-eight new officer cadets have been selected to embark on a 42-week journey to become Military Officers of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF).

The Deputy Minister of Defence, Dato Paduka Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat yesterday joined to congratulate and welcome the intake of officer cadets at the Officer Cadet School (OCS) in a ceremony also attended by their families at the Defence Academy in Sungai Akar Camp.

In his welcoming address, the deputy minister said he hoped that the new batch of officer cadets, who come from various educational backgrounds, would .make significant contributions and bring about winds of change to the military organisation and the country as a whole.

As a dynamic institution, he added that the Ministry of Defence and RBAF have not been excluded from facing challenges. Withstanding the strides of time, he said it has learnt it lessons and has enabled them to enhance its will to succeed and its credibility.

"Throughout the training, we hope the officer cadets will continue to foster spirit of unity and bring about reform and changes in RBAF, building more credibility and professionalism," he said.

However, he added that a lot need to be dealt with in making reforms. "It encompasses changes in mindset, culture, attitude and others. All this-must bring a defence objective as stipulated in our Defence White Paper - a professional, resource-efficient and.gallantry force."

He further highlighted that the OCS and Defence Academy should increase its relevance as they move forward with the tide of time.

"The OCS should continuously conduct research and have the flexibility to increase the quality of its training and learning process to achieve its mission," he added.

The new batch of officer cadets, of whom 34 are men and 14 women will go through 17 weeks of general and basic military training, 19 weeks of focusing on special to service training and six weeks of final term which covers further professional training.

In the last semester, the officer cadets will undergo further professional development, including military exercises, assessments and commissioning parade in which officer cadets who meet the high standards of OCS will be commissioned as officers of the RBAF.

Out of this total, 17 are from Royal Brunei Land Force, 17 from the Royal Brunei Navy and 14 from the Royal Brunei Air Force.

Also in attendance were the Commander of the RBAF, Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin, permanent secretaries and deputy permanent secretaries at the Ministry of Defence, senior officers from the Ministry of Defence and RBAF as well as families of the officer cadets.