New tech meets old traditions at BDF

By Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood

For any country to thrive and prosper, peace is paramount. The work of ensuring peace rests mainly with the wise directives and foreign policy pursued by the leaders of the nation.

But no freedom is without a price and the sacrifice and the hard work that goes into maintaining security and peace in a land falls upon the shoulders of the Defence force – for us, the Bahrain Defence Force, whose fifty-fifth anniversary we are celebrating today, which is BDF Day.

At the core of the way BDF works are the values and principles laid down by our leaders – especially His Majesty the King who has a background in military science from a formidable institution, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Under his careful eye and guidance and the leadership of HRH the Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Deputy Supreme Commander of the BDF, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, our BDF has become a modern peace-keeping and valuable security institution.

The development of the Bahrain Defence Force has always relied on two main pillars.

The first is the human being, who is the main component of any successful project. When the right person is chosen for a job, success must come, even if after a while.

The Bahrain Defence Force has succeeded in investing in its human elements in various ways and means, whether at the level of education and training or moral motivation.

The second pillar is arming our defenders with the latest and most effective technology to do their work.

To enable this, the leaders of BDF have always done intensive research and selected the best and cutting-edge equipment that is best for the work of defending the Kingdom and protecting the forces.

Alongside the acquisition of latest weapons and equipment, we have a trained and educated corps of disciplined armed forces who are always ready to take up position in their quest for peace for Bahrain and the region.

In the fifty-five years since its founding, so much has changed in the world and in the way militaries are managed.

The very big role that technology plays today in warfare and the potential for destruction gives humankind added impetus to use diplomacy and foreign policy as the first line for defusing tensions.

Moreover, today’s armies are multi-layered and because of the many new military roles our defence forces encompass, women too have a big role to play, unlike in the past when armies were largely male bastions. Bahrain’s daughters today stand side by side with the Kingdom’s sons in our defence forces.

Today, we are proud that we have a National Defence Force that has put the largest percentage of its investments in the human element capable of keeping pace with the amazing acceleration in the arms industry and at the same time, approaching the complex process of security and peace with logic, patriotism and leadership.

His Majesty knows that every citizen’s life is precious and always keeps the door open for peace in the world. We all are in his safe hands as much as the Kingdom is in the safe embrace of the BDF.