Gleaner Published: Tuesday 19 March 2019

Chief of defence staff of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), Lieutenant General Rocky Meade, has set a 10-year timeline for the newly opened Caribbean Military Academy (CMA) at Up Park Camp, St Andrew, to achieve the necessary accreditation status in keeping with its mandate to transform the way in which the military serves and trains soldiers.

“The academy is alive and well,” he told a Gleaner Editors’ Forum on Thursday. “I have been having discussions with other tertiary institutions and the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ). Starting immediately, we’re gonna have shared programmes where we deliver training and our partners do the accreditation.”

The first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, the CMA will build on the strong foundation of the JDF in the area of professional military education, the chief of defence staff explained during a security symposium at Up Park Camp, on September 28 last year. Since then, the JDF has embarked on a number of strategic partnerships, including with the UCJ, which has provided the force with a self-study guide, while discussions are advanced with The University of the West Indies (UWI) on the delivery of training over the next five to 10 years.

The UCJ is the external quality assurance watchdog for tertiary education in Jamaica.

Meade used the Gleaner Editors’ Forum to provide an update on the progress of the academy curriculum.

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