A cross-regional military capacity-building initiative has wrapped up in Guyana, with two officers from the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) marking major career milestones after 12 weeks of rigorous training — one of whom secured the program’s top honor for outstanding performance.
Lieutenants Randolph Best and Chevaughn Pigott were among the 15 graduating officers of the Guyana Defence Force’s 34th iteration of the Junior Command and Staff Course (JCSC #34), which concluded its graduation ceremony on October 11. Beyond the two ABDF officers, the cohort included one more trainee from a neighboring Caribbean nation and 12 local Guyanese service members. Participants hailed from three regional defense forces across the Caribbean: Guyana itself, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis.
The program was designed explicitly to advance two interconnected goals: deepening defense cooperation across the Caribbean region, and raising the professional standards of military personnel across participating nations. Over three months, trainees covered a broad, practical curriculum spanning core military competencies, from operational planning and intelligence analysis to military law, organizational administration, and strategic resource management. To ensure officers could translate classroom learning into real-world capability, the course also integrated hands-on field exercises and scenario-driven evaluations. These assessments pushed participants to apply established military doctrine, exercise critical judgment, and deliver sound, effective decisions when confronted with realistic operational challenges.
Among the entire cohort, Lieutenant Randolph Best stood out for his exceptional consistency, discipline, and unwavering commitment throughout the training period, earning him the distinguished Best Graduating Student award.
Leadership of the ABDF has publicly extended congratulations to both Best and Pigott on their successful completion of the course. The force emphasized that the advanced skills and frameworks gained during the program will directly strengthen the officers’ leadership capabilities, equipping them to take on future command and staff roles within the ABDF with greater expertise and confidence.
This joint training program reflects a growing trend of Caribbean military collaboration, as neighboring nations work collectively to build professional defense capacity and address shared regional security priorities through shared learning and development.