Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa has tasked military personnel to maintain fitness at all times as regular exercise is a hallmark of a professional soldier.
General Musa, represented by Defence Chief of Administration, Rear Admiral David Akpan, said during the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) maiden edition of monthly Route Match at the Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja on Friday, that “when you have a military, there are very key things you expect from it, one of them is discipline.
“And of course, discipline has to do with also keeping fit, not only physically, but mentally. And as we know, the gain of sport is working out all aspects of your body, both the mind, the mental health, and the physical health.
“I walk three times a week around where I stay, and that’s the same advice I’ve given to them. You see a few people that were not able to make it during the route match, but thank God we didn’t have any fatality.
“But it shows that those people need to up their game. So I think it’s a very good thing. I’ve encouraged them, and they sounded very happy to do that.”
The CDS maintained that regular fitness could also help a professional soldier in navigating obstacles on the battlefield.
According to him: “I’m a professional soldier and the training we did in our training schools, we did much physical exercise; even carrying extra load in the name of backpacks and a weapon to actually fight.
“So the way you train in peacetime is the way you fight during war. So when you are fit, you’ll be sure that you’ll be able to actually present yourself well at the battlefront.”
