CLEMSON — On Thursday, 24 April, Clemson University’s AFROTC Detachment 770 welcomed Group Captain Augustine Holm of the Ghana Air Force as a special guest at their final Leadership Lab of the spring semester. Holm is currently in the United States enjoying leave and visiting his friend, Dr. Peter Kwofie, an Internal Medicine doctor practicing in Seneca. Det 770 Commander Colonel Lance Young heard of Holm’s visit during a normal appointment with Kwofie, and soon enough, Holm was set to visit the cadets of Det 770.

The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa, bordering Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The Ghana Air Force (GAF) was founded in 1959 with direction from Indian and Israeli officers. Later that year a headquarters was established in Accra under the command of an Indian Air Commodore. In 1960, Royal Air Force personnel took up the task of training the newly established Ghana Air Force and in 1961 they were joined by a small group of Royal Canadian Air Force personnel. In September 1961 as part of President Kwame Nkrumah’s africanization program, the Royal Air Force commander was replaced by a Ghanaian Army Brigadier, re-designated to Air Commodore. This person was Air Commodore J. E. S. de Graft-Hayford, who, though born in the U.K., was of Ghanaian descent and became Africa's first 'Chief of the Air Staff' south of the Sahara. The Ghana Air Force was the first and largest sub Sahara air force at one time. Today, the GAF’s mission is to perform basic counterinsurgency operations and to provide logistical support to the Ghanaian Army. The GAF headquarters and main transport base are located in Accra and the Service has a strength of around 2500 personnel, with 38 aircraft, including two combat jets and 11 helicopters.

Holm is currently serving as the Vice Commander of the base in Accra, and is a helicopter pilot by training. His rank of Group Captain is equivalent to Colonel in the USAF. Holm recently served as commander of the first-ever Ghana-UN detachment working with peacekeeping forces in neighboring Ivory Coast and was able to share experiences with some of the cadets during the post-Leadership Lab refreshments on Military Heritage Plaza.

Young arranged for the visit because it is such valuable training for tomorrow’s Air Force officers. The clear trend in U.S. military operations today is toward participation in more multi-national coalitions, and with the increased likelihood of deployments for our newest Air Force Lieutenants, there is no better time than now to begin introducing them to military leaders of allied countries. Holm’s visit was a highlight event of the semester and will serve the cadets well as they commission and deploy in defense of the nation.

To learn more about AFROTC Detachment 770, you can check them out at http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/afrotc/