PHOTOS: Gen Muhoozi to Focus on Soldiers’ Welfare and Combat Capabilities

Former Special Forces commander Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has this Thursday assumed the office of Commander Land Forces, Chimp Corps report.

Kainerugaba takes over from Lt Gen Peter Elwelu who was recently elevated to deputy Chief of Defence Forces.

Muhoozi highlighted four areas of his priorities which include enhancing land forces’ combat capabilities.

“We will be building an efficient, modern, and accountable force that can defend the sovereignty of our country at all times,” said Gen Muhoozi.

Muhoozi, who doubles as Special Presidential advisor in charge of special operations, also hinted on boosting the welfare of troops.

Welfare covers accommodation facilities, salaries for soldiers and clothing.
He also promised to ensure soldiers remain healthy.

This includes promoting regular fitness exercises and training.

Regarding ideology, Muhoozi said his reign will see “intensification of political education to our officers and men.”

Muhoozi takes over at a time UPDF is involved in several military conflicts in Somalia and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Muhoozi will now command the infantry divisions, artillery division, armoured brigadr and motorised brigade.

The cereemony was presided over by Chief of Defence Forces Gen Wilson Mbadi.

Military Career
In 1999, Muhoozi joined the UPDF at the rank of officer cadet and graduated in 2000 from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the British Army’s officer training facility in Camberly, in the UK.

In 2000, Muhoozi was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and deployed in the Presidential Protection Unit (PPU).

He began as Head of Combat Readiness, in the office of the PPU’s intelligence office.
Muhoozi held this position until he was promoted to the rank of Captain in late 2001.

In 2002, he attended a Company Commander/Battalion Commander’s Course in Egypt.

In 2003, with the re-organization of the PPU into the Presidential Guards Brigade (PGB), Captain Muhoozi was promoted to the rank of Major and became the Commanding Officer (CO) of the fledgling Motorized Infantry Battalion, and a member of the Defence Forces Council.
He saw his first combat action in Soroti later that year.

The Motorized Infantry Battalion (which Major Muhoozi commanded) played a pivotal role in the defeat of the LRA in Soroti.

Commando force
In 2005, he took command and trained with an infantry company in advanced infantry skills at Kasenyi Training School. That company was later integrated into 1 Commando Battalion.

In 2006, Muhoozi supervised the training and organization of the newly formed 1 Commando Battalion in Barlege, Otuke County, Lira District.

In 2007, he deployed with the newly formed 1 Commando Battalion to Bundibugyo to tackle the ADF.

President Museveni hailed the 1 Commando Battalion for defeating the ADF at the battle of Semliki National Park in March, 2007.

Passing out commandos at a recent ceremony, Museveni said the Army is tough, but commando operations are tougher.

“The army has big capacity but Special Forces create professional capacity in operating in small units and doing things that cannot be done in a regular way. Special Forces are an important force in building special capacity,” he said.

The President noted that it is because of such Special Operations that Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) was completely defeated in 2007 as well as the Al Shabaab militants in Mogadishu.

“The snipers did a fantastic job when they went to Mogadishu, they helped the defeat of Al Shabaab from the Somali city,” said Museveni.

Paratrooper
Later that year, Muhoozi he enrolled at the Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth Kansas (USA).

In 2008, he graduated from Fort Leavenworth, the US Army Command and General Staff College.

hat same year Muhoozi was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and appointed Commander of Special Forces in the UPDF.

In 2010, he was appointed as the first Commander Special Forces Group (SFG). The Special Forces are a highly trained unit of the UPDF that includes airborne troops, commandos and marines.

SFG is responsible for counter-terrorism, direct action, VVIP protection and special reconnaissance among others.

In 2011, Muhoozi planned and supervised the entry of Special Forces into the UPDF campaign in Somalia, as part of the AMISOM mission.

Within a few weeks of the entry of Special Forces into Somalia the UPDF successfully expelled Al Shabaab from Mogadishu. That was in August 2011.

In September 2011, Muhoozi was promoted to rank of Colonel.

Early 2012, Col. Muhoozi enrolled at the South African National Defence College for the Executive National Security Program. He graduated from this program six months later in June.

In August, Muhoozi was promoted to Brigadier General and appointed Commander Special Forces Command.

In 2013 and 2014, Muhoozi was one of the senior UPDF commanders who deployed to South Sudan to support the Government of South Sudan after fighting broke out in Juba between rival factions of the SPLA.
The UPDF was able to stabilize the situation in Juba and Bor after smashing a rebel advance on the capital city in January 2014.

In 2017 Muhoozi was appointed Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Duties, a position he holds to date. He would later return as SFC commander until today’s elevation to Command all Land Forces.

Career Highlights

Some of the highlights of his military career thus far include:

Muhoozi as commander of SFC

In 2004, he successfully coordinated and participated in a hostage rescue operation in which three staff in the office of Minister for Water, Lands and Environment, Miria Mutagamba, were taken hostage.

In 2007, he commanded the defeat of the ADF in Bundibugyo, in an operation where 80 enemy forces and the ADF’s third in command, were killed in action.
In 2008, he was deployed as Second-In-Command of “Operation Lightening Thunder” in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UPDF described the operation as “successful”, saying it was organized to degrade the combat capacities of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army in Garamba, deep in the jungles of the DR Congo.

The opposition rejected this narrative, saying the troops fell short of capturing LRA leader, Joseph Kony. After the Garamba attack, Kony fled to the jungles of Central African Republic.

In 2009, Muhoozi participated in training and commissioning the UPDF’s first paratrooper element. These were Uganda’s first paratroopers since 1976.