Fitness
The Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Idi Abbas, has urged naval personnel to remain physically and mentally fit in order to perform their duties successfully and effectively.
Abbas, represented by the Director of Manning, Naval Headquarters, Rear Adm. Kolawole Oguntuga, gave the charge on Saturday in Abuja, at the third quarter route march.
The CNS said that dicipline, resilience, teamwork and operational readiness were the key attributes that defined the naval service.
“We operate in an increasingly complex security environment in which personnel must have the physical endurance, mental alertness, and professional competence to respond decisively to evolving threats.
“Physical fitness is therefore not merely recreational, it is an operational necessity and an essential component upon which combat readiness is anchored,” he said.
According to Abbas, physical fitness is all the more important as naval service has grown beyond traditional responsibilities at sea.
He said naval personnel have continued to serve alongside sister services and other security agencies in joint theatres, contributing significantly to ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations.
“Personnel in most cases whether at sea or ashore operating singly or jointly, will operate for prolonged periods in demanding terrain, under intense pressure and in rapidly changing tactical conditions.
“Success in such deployments therefore depends not only on weapons, platforms and training, but also on the physical fitness, mental resilience and the adaptability of the individual officer or rating,” he said.
The CNS stressed that personnel must therefore maintain physical fitness in order to meet the demands of service, uphold institutional standards in fulfilling constitutional responsibilities and remained operationally prepared whenever duty called.
“We must remember that our sacred oath to uphold our professional standards in all aspects of naval operations is vital to keeping faith with our responsibility to defend our territorial integrity,” he said.
He urged personnel to make physical fitness a continuous habit and an integral part of professional military life as operational effectiveness began with individual readiness.(NAN)
