Another six hundred and thirty-nine members of the Jamaica Defence Force’s (JDF) Jamaica National Service Corps (JNSC) will graduate from the programme in its 8th Certification Ceremony to be held today at the Caribbean Military Academy Auditorium, Up Park Camp, in St Andrew.

The event marks the eighth cohort of young Jamaicans to leave the programme, having spent the last 12 months engaged in various types of training with the JDF.

Since the start of the JNSC programme in June 2017, approximately 2,700 recruits have been trained with nearly 70 per cent of those recruits — including 247 females — moving on to join the regular force.

The JNSC is a primary category of service in the JDF. It involves a 52-week youth engagement training programme where recruits receive remuneration for the period and are subject to the legal framework of The Defence (JNSC Enlistment and Service) Regulations 2018.

Members go through five phases of training including basic recruit training, where they are introduced to drill, first aid and map reading; intermediate training, which involves areas such as language communication and entrepreneurship; and support to arms training across various units of the JDF.

They are also exposed to infantry on-the-job-training, where they explore the rigours of the combatant units. For those who will not transition to the regular force of JDF, having earned the NCTVET Security Service Corps – Level 2 certification, they are also eligible to undertake several other employment opportunities.

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Lieutenant General Rocky R Meade continues to laud the JNSC programme, which is designed to support the Government’s Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) and Learn, Earn, Give and Save (LEGS) programmes, as well as the National Military Engagement Programme.

“This programme offers Jamaican youth increased employment, employability and positive engagement whilst building positive attitudes and creating better citizens, a combination which engenders a disinclination to engage in illegal activities,” said Meade.

“We are most proud of the fact that at the end of the programme, all participants have the opportunity to earn HEART TRUST/NTA qualifications, improve their life skills and fitness and become productive members of the Jamaican society,” added Meade.