The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, has reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to bolster the serviceability rate of its operable platforms, to meet current and emerging security challenges.

Abubakar said this while addressing officers and men during his maiden operational visit to Air Training Command and co-located NAF units in Kaduna.

This is contained in a statement by the Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, on Wednesday in Abuja.

The CAS said that NAF would enhance resilience in the conduct of its air operations within a joint and multi-agency setting.

According to him, “to be resilient in our operations, we must proactively address maintenance and logistics support for all our fleet.

“We all have a part to play in ensuring that the NAF surpasses the current average serviceability of over 78 per cent”.

Abubakar commended the efforts of NAF personnel participating in Operation Whirl Punch for upholding the mandate of bringing activities of criminal elements to an end.

He added that their sacrifices and efforts had continued to make positive impacts in parts of the North West and North Central geopolitical zones including the Federal Capital Territory.

The air chief charged all personnel to key into his command philosophy which is “to transform the NAF into an agile and resilient force that effectively meets the airpower demands of national security in all operational environments”.

He promised to leverage on technology, innovation, lessons learnt as well as the personnel and fleets to effectively checkmate the security threats confronting the country.

On safety, the CAS charged personnel to imbibe a safety culture and persistently abide by all safety standards and regulations to prevent mishaps in all air operations.

He noted that accidents occurred due to a chain of events and therefore, they should always be vigilant to break the chain.

In the area of manpower development, Air Marshal Abubakar gave assurance that overseas and local training would be deliberate and targeted to address deficiencies in needed skills and capabilities.

According to him, course nominations will be merit-based to ensure that only the most qualified are selected to give the NAF value for money.

He assured personnel that all their entitlements would be promptly paid as well as intervene in priority areas to make their training and operations more efficient and ensure that personnel and their families lived more comfortably, considering the economic situation in the country.

Abubakar charged them to embrace efficient management of scarce resources in their care.

He said his administration would identify and prioritise the most critical needs and objectives and allocate resources where they could have the greatest impact.