The inaugural Pacific Islands Regimental Black-Tie Dinner was held last night in Port Moresby city where an important point about the wellbeing of service men and women was made by the guest of honour, the Governor General of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Reflecting on the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the personnel in the military, Governor General Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae said Papua New Guinea’s fine service men and women are able and willing to make sacrifices for the good of the country and to protect it from all forms of enemies from within and from outside, so better recognition and well fare must be accorded to them going forward. “As we celebrate our 50th Independence Anniversary this year, and the 60th anniversary of the RPIR (Royal Pacific Islands Regiment), it is time we seriously direct attention to the physical wellbeing of our servicemen and women. By that I mean developing and improving our military health facilities to cater for both physical and psychological rehabilitation of our defence force,” said the Governor General. “This should be geared towards providing and sustaining professional and specialist services for mental and emotional support through therapy, professional counselling and guidance, as well as regular physical exercise and fitness program, in all our military establishments throughout the country.” Governor General Sir Bob Dadae believes that by doing this, it will go a long way in addressing psychological trauma, mental stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other such mental issues that affect a lot of service personnel. “Through such rehabilitation programs, our servicemen will be able to reorient back into civil society and are better able to deal with, and avoid resorting to unhealthy and harmful habits such as drug and alcohol abuse, violence and engaging in criminal activities.” “I believe this will make a huge difference to the health and well-being of our servicemen and veterans alike, many of whom still face mental stress and trauma experienced in their line of duty.” He said it will also greatly reduce the high occurrence of lifestyle diseases, which can be linked to psychological trauma, and which has claimed more lives of men in active duty than from active combat or battle operations. In line with the welfare and physical support for Defence Force personnel, the Governor General also made a call for the establishment of a dedicated Department for Veterans Affairs, a body that will be tasked to oversee the welfare of our veterans once they transition from active duty in the Regiment and the Defence Force, to civilian life, as more and more former members of the Regiment are phased out from active service. Meanwhile, the Pacific Islands Regimental Black-Tie event was attended by veterans and servicemen and women of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF), on the milestone occasion of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the RPIR. They include former Commanders of the PNGDF like Retired Brigadier General Jerry Singirok, Retired Brigadier General Francis Agwi along with other former senior military officers.