Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) 15 Marines Brigade alongside officers from the Uganda Police Force, Uganda Prisons Service, and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), conducted a 30-kilometre route march in Buliisa District.
The exercise follows a directive from the Chief of Defence Forces to test troops’ physical fitness, discipline, teamwork, resilience, combat readiness and overall preparedness for future operations.
The Commander of the 15 Marines Brigade, Brigadier General Michael Nyarwa, said the march was organised in response to the CDF’s guidance aimed at ensuring that security personnel remain ready and capable of executing their constitutional mandate.
Brig Gen Nyarwa observed that the presence and march by the Brigade in the area demonstrated the force’s preparedness to protect Ugandans, especially communities living close to the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We are here to assure Ugandans, to assure the people of Buliisa, that we are ready to protect them. Being near the borderline with the DRC, where the Allied Democratic Forces operate. This kind of movement sends a very serious signal that the UPDF remains alert and prepared,” Brig Gen Nyarwa said.
He said the route march fulfilled one of its key objectives of testing and improving physical fitness, health and mental well-being at the individual level, while at the same time reinforcing one of the core values of the Marines, teamwork.
Brig Gen Nyarwa emphasised that while military skills and equipment are important, it is ultimately the ideologically sharpened human being who remains central to combat effectiveness.
The 30-kilometre route march is one of the activities on the UPDF calendar and is conducted across UPDF formations to maintain troop endurance, discipline and combat readiness.
