Bandar Seri Begawan - The Junior Staff Course (JSC) 2012, a 14-week course conducted by the Leadership and Management Centre, Defence Academy Royal Brunei Armed Forces, was officially opened yesterday.

Attended by 15 RBAF officers, an officer from the Royal Brunei Police Force and four military officers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, the mandatory course for the RBAF officers is a pre-requisite for captain to major promotion.

It aimed to develop the junior officer's knowledge, leadership and management, communication skills and professionalism to meet their responsibilities as staff officers.

The ceremony was officiated by the Commander of the Joint Force Headquarters RBAF, First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Abd Aziz Hj Mohd Tamit.

He said the JSC has enabled the force to continue improving the training content and delivery to meet the needs of its officers' ability to take up staff appointments.

The course supports directly the objectives of the Defence White Papers that aims to develop junior officers in the knowledge, skills and attitude that they will need to meet responsibilities as staff officers.

He quoted His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's titah during the 47th Anniversary of RBAF stressing on the importance of possessing effective leadership qualities apart from attaining knowledge, obtaining equipment and building infrastructure.

His Majesty also said that leaders should possess the vision to make improvements and the skills to dominate any weakness in the military institutions, leadership characters such as these are extremely vital to distinguish from other institutions.

"In adherence to the direction of His Majesty's titah, the Junior Staff Course is designed to equip junior officers with the leadership skills, religious morals, expertise and the ability to think in a more dynamic, proactive and visionary mariner."

As members of their respective armed forces and law enforcement agencies, they must be equipped with knowledge and be well aware of the foreign and security policies of other states, in order to play an increasing and relevant role in the regional and international arenas.

"We cannot be ignorant. Nor can we afford to be complacent. We must have the flexibility of mind and open mindset, to be able to play our part in promoting peace and stability in the region."

He believes that the JSC is an effective platform for, the course members to broaden their knowledge, gain experience and develop their leadership and professional skills with the expectations that the course will also equip officers with practical and professional skill sets.

These skill sets are needed in a modern defence force, so that they are able to cope with the global challenges of today and in the foreseeable future, he added.

The mixtures of nationalities with the participation of the foreign students and from RBPF are one of the main benefits of the course as it provides them with the ideal opportunity to interact, exchange and share ideas and learn from each other.

He also believes that active interactions and constructive exchanges of views and ideas will help them improve their level of professionalism, since each course member brings to the table a unique set of background, experience and knowledge.

The course will help them further develop their competency levels to derive maximum benefit from the course, they will need to apply themselves diligently and with total commitment, he said.