RIMBA AIR BASE, Wed, Jun 24, 2015 - Royal Brunei Air Force (RBAirF) today celebrated its 49th anniversary at the Rimba Air Force Base. Guest of honor at the ceremony was the Commander or RBAirF, Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Hj Wardi bin Hj Abd Latip. The ceremony was held at the Punai Hall for both the Thanks Giving prayer and presentation of Awards of Excellence for RBAirF’s wings and personnel.
RBAirF Commander Brigadier General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Hj Wardi also delivered a speech in commemoration of the anniversary at the ceremony where he highlighted that the RBAirF have shown positive improvements and achievements during 2014 and 2015 inclusive, such as re-organising the structure of the RBAirF particularly the establishment of components of the Operations Group and the Support Group as well as upgrading the Training Division into a Training Academy. Bilateral exercises with other armed forces of friendly foreign countries, attending symposium and interaction programs have been carried out to enhance defence diplomacy relationships at the operational and tactics level. Among them are such as LATMA Brunesia Exercise with the Indonesian Air Force, CARAT exercises with the US Navy, Air Guard exercises with the Singapore Air Force,and Exercise SAREX BRUMAL with the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The RBAirF Commander also informed that all Blackhawk S70i aircrafts have been received earlier this year and the numbers of trained pilots and technicians have also increased and has given positive impact to the needs of national requirement.
He also stressed the importance of training, discipline and vision of the RBAirF personnel where all trainings with significant interests must be properly planned and organized in order for the personnel to achieve the desired standards. Accordingly, the RBAirF personnel are expected to have high level of discipline, both as a leader or those being led. The RBAirF also fully supports in upholding the laws of the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, and will take appropriate actions to any personnel who is found violating any of those rules. The ceremony continued with the presentation of Awards for Excellent Wing which are divided into four categories: Excellence in Administration, Physical Endurance, Discipline and Excellent Wing overall. And this year's winner in the overall Excellent Wing was the Training Wing. Meanwhile the awards for Excellent Personnel in the RBAirF, for the ‘Officer’ category went to 718 Captain (U) Amierul Halpi bin Talip of the Air Regiment; ‘Senior Non-Commissioning Officer (SNCO)’ category to 15089 Sargent (U) Azuan Mohammad bin Ismail from the Air Regiment, ‘Other Ranks’ category went to 21380 Corporal Nurizzah bte Hj Jumat from Training Wing whereas the Excellent Civilian Staff was awarded to Sarinah bte Hj Hidup from the Operations Wing.
The history of RBAirF dated back in 1965 when the contract with Worldwide Helicopters Company was signed for the purpose of providing medical services in remote areas. This marked the beginning of the history of aviation in the RBAF. The role of this organization has been greatly expanded in terms of assets and members and most important is the role for the security and prosperity of the RBAF and Brunei Darussalam. Other events to be run in conjunction with the anniversary celebration is Tahlil ceremony for the His Majesty’s late parents, Al-Marhum Sultan Hj Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien and Al-Marhumah Duli Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Damit binti Al-Marhum Pengiran Bendahara Pengiran Anak Abdul Rahman at the Royal Mausoleum and regimenal dinner that was held at the Officers' Mess Berakas Garisson before the start of Ramadan.
