" The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."

- Colin Powell

COMMENT In my previous article , I addressed the "serious concerns" of the Defence Ministry on retired armed forces personnel using their ranks post retirement without permission. In this piece, I would like to highlight the objections of Rafoc (Retired Armed Forces Club*) on the use of army ranks for Rela (People's Volunteer Corps) members.

Before I begin, I would like to make it clear that Rafoc is not pro-opposition. Although I am a member of Rafoc, the views expressed here should not be construed as those of Rafoc's and the club did not ask me to "instigate" (since this is a popular meme doing the rounds now for anyone involved in opposition politics) a controversy between the government and retired armed forces personnel.

In this piece, I will allow Rafoc to speak for itself by quoting verbatim from an open letter circulated amongst retired armed forces officers and include quotes from previous articles of mine; concerning Rela and the objections some people have of this paramilitary outfit and the state of the armed forces today...