Defence Act to be amended for enlistment programme

THE DEFENCE Board has commenced dialogue with the attorney general and the Ministry of Justice to facilitate amendments to the Defence Act in order to give the recently announced National Service Enlistment (NSE) programme legal standing.

When amended, the act will ensure that the army’s programme of recruitment will become standard.

“Going forward, this enlistment programme will become the new standard for joining the army,” stated Major Basil Jarrett, the JDF’s civil military coorporation and media affairs officer.

He said the pending change was in line with Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ employment and engagement initiative, dubbed LEGS, which seeks to tie young persons in a national service programme that allows youths to Learn, Earn a living, Give back and Save (LEGS).

“This is our new mandate for enlistment in the army. In the future, all our soldiers would have come through the NSE programme, which is itself a dramatic departure from what has obtained for many years,” said the major.

“This will also answer the question many people over the years have asked and suggested about getting our young people actively involved in military service after leaving school,” he said.

“They will all be exposed to and imbued with the core values and positive characteristics that the military is known for, such as discipline, respect, honesty, integrity, strong work ethics, patriotism and being good productive citizens,” said Jarrett.

NEW CATEGORY OF MILITARY SERVICE

The NSE is a new category of military service which will see approximately 1,000 persons, aged 18-23, being enlisted in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) annually and trained over a one-year period in military, vocational and broader life skills.

At the end of their NSE training period, the majority of the participants will be accepted to join the JDF as regular force soldiers, while others will be eligible candidates for employment in the private and public sectors.