Brigadier Omar Khan is the 12th chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). With more than 30 years of professional military career, serving in various fields across the organization, including as director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency and as an officer within the infantry, training, intelligence, and maritime units, Brig. Khan has the command and staff experience and knowledge to lead the service men and women of his country.
Since his April 28, 2023 appointment, Brig. Khan has committed to succeed in his new role. Brig. Khan spoke with Diálogo about his priorities and challenges as the GDF’s new chief of Staff.
Diálogo: What are your priorities as the GDF’s new chief of Staff?
Brigadier Omar Khan, chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force: My focus on the GDF is guided within the national context of the commander in chief’s vision for Guyana, which allows me to focus on three areas: awareness, adaptability, and agility. We need a GDF that is fully aware of the contemporary environment and of all the threats and the challenges to make decisions and to be able to adapt in the existing environment within the confines of our country, responding with agility that is required to mitigate any threats to its sovereignty.
Diálogo: What are the GDF’s greatest challenges to accomplish the mission?
Brig. Khan: The GDF is moderately equipped to deal with the current threats. Of course, threats are always evolving, and we have just recently completed our national security strategy. This is a blueprint on how we are going to operate for the next five to 10 years. Our greatest challenge is not only operating within the constraints of a budget, but it’s the way we also think from looking through the lens that we use to assess events and situations. The officers and the ranks of the GDF are well positioned to innovate and assess all the challenges that we face to the point where we can develop strategies and systems to mitigate them. Perhaps, among our many challenges, I must say we have a large porous border and that is one of our primary focus areas. Currently, we are positioned at key points along our borders in which we can control the flow of goods and people, but it’s not in any way sufficient to manage the extensive border that we have with our three neighboring countries: Suriname, Brazil, and Venezuela. Importantly, Guyana is part of a global and regional security system. We partner with other nations through shared interests to confront common threats. This system allows Guyana to address some of its indigenous security limitations.
Diálogo: You emphasized a whole-of-government approach to security. What initiatives are you developing to encourage increased synergy with the government of Guyana and the GDF?
Brig. Khan: We have an excellent working relationship between the civil authorities and the security forces. There is synergy that allows us to work better, so that we can realize the desired defense output from a whole-of-government approach. It’s my opinion that no solution should be exclusively military as we need the other stakeholders to complement the effort as a whole-of-government approach to address threats and challenges. The GDF cannot be the single actor/institution to mitigate challenges that the country faces.
Diálogo: Guyana is a transshipment hub for cocaine to Europe and the United States, as cocaine crosses from Colombia to Venezuela or Brazil before entering Guyana. How is the GDF combating narcotrafficking?
Brig. Khan: The GDF plays a complementary role to the other law enforcement agencies within the country. Guyana is positioned geographically on the northern shoulder of the South American continent. Drug traffickers over the years have been using the general location to transship their drugs. We have had significant successes working in support of the other security agencies who are mandated to intercept drugs and apprehend those persons who are involved.
Diálogo: GDF and U.S. Southern Command is hosting the second Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) Jungle Symposium in July 2023. Why is this engagement at the NCO level crucial?
Brig. Khan: Guyana is predominantly a jungle terrain, and we must train to operate on our own and in our own country and training our soldiers at the NCO level is an important part of our training paradigm. Of course, there is another level of training where the officers are involved at the commander level operating in the same jungle terrain.
Diálogo: How is the GDF responding to increasingly growing cyberthreats?
Brig. Khan: The GDF is part of a national effort of addressing cyberthreats. At the national level, we have a government agency that is spearheading that effort in streamlining our national cybersecurity strategy. The GDF is part of that process. As a defense force, we have our own mechanism to protect our ICT [Information and Communication Technology] platform, but at the national level we play a complementary role in supporting that government agency responsible for ICT products and services.
