The Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), Senior Command and Staff Course (SCSC) 47, has held Exercise NKABOM at the College, Otu Barracks, Teshie, from Monday, 27 July to Wednesday, 5 August 2026. The capstone exercise was designed to evaluate students' competence in planning and conducting joint, combined and integrated multinational operations at the operational level. It provided a realistic and demanding environment that enabled students to apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course while preparing them for future command and staff appointments.
Exercise NKABOM was set in the fictional ZAFRAN Archipelago, comprising the islands of Averia, Belvar, Corsin and Drakma, located within a maritime buffer between Ghana's coast and the wider Gulf of Guinea. Developed around a complex intervention operation, the exercise presented students with contemporary operational challenges requiring campaign planning, joint operational planning, logistics coordination, intelligence analysis and multi domain decision making. Throughout the exercise, participants developed essential planning products, including campaign plans, joint estimates, targeting plans, logistics plans, communications plans, media plans and operational orders to support the execution of the simulated mission.
As part of the exercise, students assumed key appointments within the Joint Task Force Headquarters and the various component headquarters, including the Land, Maritime and Air Components, where they performed the roles and responsibilities of senior operational commanders and staff officers. Under the supervision of directing staff and external controllers, they coordinated planning activities, issued directives and made operational decisions in response to evolving scenarios, thereby strengthening their leadership, teamwork and decision making abilities in a realistic joint operational environment.
The exercise also incorporated strategic communication activities to replicate real world military operations. Students serving as Component Commanders and senior staff officers participated in media engagements, granting interviews in their respective appointments and communicating operational developments within the exercise scenario. A simulated press conference was also organised, providing an opportunity for journalists to pose questions on operational planning, mission objectives, humanitarian concerns, logistics, rules of engagement and other emerging issues. These engagements enhanced participants' public communication skills and prepared them to effectively engage the media while safeguarding operational security during future military operations.
Exercise NKABOM marked the culmination of the Senior Command and Staff Course 47 in Campaign Planning and Operational Art. The exercise consolidated students' academic studies through practical application in a challenging operational setting, equipping them with the knowledge, confidence and professional competence required to plan, coordinate and execute joint and combined operations within a multinational and multi domain environment. It further reinforced GAFCSC's commitment to developing highly competent military leaders capable of responding effectively to contemporary national, regional and international security challenges.
By Cpl Dakudji O Majorie