TANAH JAMBU, Thursday, 17 November 2022 - Six officers comprising of five Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) officers and one Ministry of Defence (MinDef) civilian officer received the OBOE Endeavour Academic Excellence Award from the Australian government in recognition of their outstanding results during the recently concluded 12th RBAF’s Command and Staff Course 2022. The ceremony was held at the Defence Academy Royal Brunei Armed Forces (DA RBAF).
Present as the Guest of Honour was Air Vice Marshal Stephen Meredith, Australian Deputy Chief of Air Force. Also present were His Excellency Luke Arnold, Australian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, Deputy and Acting Deputy Service Commanders, Acting Deputy Joint Force Commander, Head of Inspectorate RBAF, Director of Personnel, Australian Defence Adviser to Brunei Darussalam as well as RBAF senior officers.
The ceremony started with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and was followed by the welcoming remarks by Colonel Pengiran Sharifuddin bin Pengiran Haji Yusof, Commandant of DA RBAF. In his remarks, he congratulated all of the award recipients and conveyed his deepest gratitude to the Government of Australia for the continuous OBOE Endeavour Academic Excellence Award that has certainly raise the standards of the Command and Staff College. He also expressed that Brunei Darussalam very much values the defence relationship with Australia, and viewed that the program is a great opportunity to further strengthen military cooperation between both countries. Meanwhile, Air Vice Marshal Stephen Meredith in his speech conveyed that the OBOE Endeavour Academic Excellence Award is an opportunity to deepen understanding and links between Brunei Darussalam and Australia. He further congratulated all award recipients for the outstanding results and emphasised that it is a landmark in transition of applying the military arts into practice. He also appreciated and values the Royal Brunei Armed Forces’ continuous invitation for Australian officers to attend the Command and Staff Course in Brunei Darussalam.
The Guest of Honour later on was invited to present the award to six recipients namely 800 Major Awang Abdul Aziz bin Haji Razali from the Royal Brunei Land Force, 802 Lieutenant Commander Wan Abdul Naafi bin Metussin, RBN and 819 Lieutenant Commander Pg Haji Khairul Anwar bin Haji Abu Bakar,RBN from the Royal Brunei Navy, 827 Major Lizawati binti Haji Suhaili from Defence Academy Royal Brunei Armed Forces, 989 Major (U) Arif Syazwi bin Haji Md Idris from the Royal Brunei Air Force, and Dayang Nur Khadijah binti Ramlli, from the Ministry of Defence.
The OBOE Endeavour Award is an academic excellence programme from the Australian Government, awarded to the Command and Staff Course participants who have achieved outstanding results during the course. These officers will be invited to Australia to meet with key leaders of the Australian Defence Force, tour Australian military bases, participate in educational and cultural activities, and engage in dialogues as well as discussions. This year’s award recipients will be leaving for Australia from 05 December 2022 to 11 December 2022.
The program aimed to impart knowledge to the officers about Australia and its Defence Force, share commonalities on the region’s security and interest, as well as to foster the relationship between the armed forces and enhance the bilateral defence relations between Brunei Darussalam and Australia. This event is the fifth in the series since it first started in 2018 and has awarded 29 local officers to date.
The name ‘OBOE Endeavour Award’ was chosen to commemorate the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the successful liberation of Borneo from the Japanese occupation during Operation OBOE in World War II back in July 1945, which marked the beginning of Brunei Darussalam and Australia’s defence relationship.
ENAM PEGAWAI MENERIMA ANUGERAH OBOE ENDEAVOUR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
TANAH JAMBU, Khamis, 17 November 2022 – Enam orang Pegawai yang terdiri daripada lima pegawai Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei (ABDB) dan seorang pegawai Kementerian Pertahanan telah menerima anugerah OBOE Endeavour Academic Excellence bagi Peserta Cemerlang Kursus Maktab Turus AP ABDB siri 12/2022. Acara tersebut berlangsung di Akademi Pertahanan Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei (AP ABDB).
Hadir selaku Tetamu Kehormat ialah Air Vice Marshal Stephen Meredith, Timbalan Pemerintah Tentera Udara Australia. Turut hadir ialah Tuan Yang Terutama Luke Arnold, Pesuruhjaya Tinggi Australia ke Negara Brunei Darussalam, Timbalan-Timbalan dan Pemangku Timbalan Pemerintah Angkatan Tentera, Pemangku Timbalan Pemerintah Angkatan Bersama, Penasihat Pertahanan Australia ke Negara Brunei Darussalam serta Pegawai-pegawai Kanan ABDB.
Majlis dimulakan dengan bacaan Surah Al-Fatihah dan diteruskan dengan ucapan alu-aluan oleh Kolonel Pengiran Sharifuddin bin Pengiran Haji Yusof, Komandan AP ABDB. Dalam ucapannya, beliau mengucapkan setinggi-tinggi tahniah kepada semua penerima anugerah dan menyatakan anugerah tersebut setentunya akan meningkatkan taraf Maktab Turus AP ABDB. Beliau juga menekankan bahawa Negara Brunei Darussalam sangat menghargai hubungan pertahanan dengan Australia, dan memandang program berkenaan sebagai peluang yang baik untuk mengukuhkan lagi kerjasama ketenteraan antara kedua-dua buah negara.
Sementara itu, Tetamu Kehormat dalam ucapannya menyampaikan bahawa Anugerah Kecemerlangan Akademik OBOE Endeavour adalah peluang untuk mendalami persefahaman dan hubungan di antara Negara Brunei Darussalam dan Australia. Beliau seterusnya mengucapkan tahniah kepada semua penerima-penerima anugerah atas keputusan cemerlang dan menekankan bahawa ianya adalah mercu tanda dalam penerapan seni ketenteraan dan perlu dipraktikan dalam tugas harian. Beliau juga menghargai jemputan yang berterusan daripada Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei kepada Pegawai-pegawai Australia untuk menghadiri kursus Maktab Turus di Negara Brunei Darussalam.
Tetamu Kehormat kemudiannya dijemput untuk menyampaikan anugerah kepada enam penerima iaitu 800 Mejar Awang Abdul Aziz bin Haji Razali dari Tentera Darat Diraja Brunei, 802 Leftenan Komander Wan Abdul Naafi bin Metussin, TLDB dan 819 Leftenan Komander Pg Haji Khairul Anwar bin Haji Abu Bakar, TLDB dari Tentera Laut Diraja Brunei, 827 Mejar Lizawati binti Haji Suhaili dari Akademi Pertahanan Angkatan Bersenjata Diraja Brunei, 989 Mejar (U) Arif Syazwi bin Haji Md Idris dari Tentera Udara Diraja Brunei dan Dayang Nur Khadijah binti Ramlli dari Kementerian Pertahanan.
Anugerah OBOE Endeavour adalah merupakan Program Kecemerlangan Akademik daripada Kerajaan Australia yang dianugerahkan kepada peserta-peserta Kursus Maktab Turus yang telah mencapai keputusan yang cemerlang semasa kursus tersebut. Pegawai-pegawai berkenaan akan dijemput ke Australia untuk berjumpa dengan Ketua-ketua Pertahanan Australia, melawat pangkalan tentera Australia, mengikuti aktiviti-aktiviti pendidikan dan kebudayaan, serta melibatkan diri di dalam sesi dialog dan perbincangan. Penerima-penerima angerah pada tahun ini akan berlepas ke Australia bermula pada 05 Disember 2022 hingga 11 Disember 2022.
Program ini bertujuan untuk memberikan kefahaman kepada pegawai-pegawai berkenaan mengenai Australia, Angkatan Tentera Australia, serta berkongsi mengenai persamaan di dalam kepentingan keselamatan serantau dan mengeratkan hubungan antara kedua buah angkatan tentera serta meningkatkan lagi hubungan pertahanan dua hala antara Negara Brunei Darussalam dan Australia. Majlis penyampaian anugerah ini adalah kali kelima diadakan sejak ianya pertama kali diadakan pada tahun 2018 dan sebanyak 29 pegawai telah menerima anugerah tersebut.
Nama ‘Anugerah OBOE Endeavour’ telah dipilih sempena memperingati penglibatan Angkatan Tentera Australia dalam kejayaan membebaskan Borneo daripada Jepun semasa Operasi OBOE di Perang Dunia ke-2 pada Julai 1945, dan seterusnya menandakan titik permulaan hubungan pertahanan di antara Negara Brunei Darussalam dan Australia.
