Deputy Chief Of Defend Staff

BRIGADIER GENERAL OUSMAN GOMEZ DEPUTY CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF GAMBIA ARMED FORCES

BACKGROUND

Major General Ousman Gomez was born on the 30th April 1974 in Sanyang village West Coast Region. He started his early education at Jambanjelly Primary School in 1981- 1987. He completed his O’ level in 1994 and A’ Level in 1996 at Nusrat High School.

MILITARY CARRIER

Major General Ousman Gomez joined the Gambia Armed Forces in 1997 as an Officer Cadet and got commissioned as a Regular Combatant officer. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant in 1999, Lieutenant in January 2023, Captain in January 2008, Lieutenant Colonel in January 2009, Colonel in April 2011 and Brigadier General in 2020.

The General officer did his basic military training at the then Gambia National Guards Training School (now GAF Training School) in Bakau in 1997 and later proceeded to Ghana in 1999 to undergo the Young Officer’s course at the Army Combat Training School. He completed his Junior Staff and Senior Staff Course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji Nigeria and the Command and Staff College Quetta, Pakistan in 2009 and 2018 respectively. The General Officer is a Lawyer by profession and a Rotary Peace Fellow.

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

The General Officer in his quest for knowledge endeavored to study extensively and obtained a Bachelors of Law (LLB Honors) degree at the University of the Gambia in 2015 and a Barrister in Law (BL) from the Gambia Law School in 2016. He was called and enrolled to the Gambian Bar as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Gambia in 2020.

In addition, the General officer holds a double Master’s Degree namely a Master of Arts and Science of Warfare (MSc) from the National Defence University (NDU), Pakistan in 2018 and Master of Arts in Peace Studies (Peace and Conflict Resolution) from the International Christian University in Japan in 2020.

CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS/SEMINARS/TRAININGS

During the course of his military career, the General Ousman Gomez attended several professional courses as well as capacity building workshops, trainings and seminars such as:

  • Bomb Disposal Training, 1999, State Guards, State House, Banjul, The Gambia.
  • Training of Trainers. October 2003, United Nations Training Assistance Team/ Mission Training Cell (United Nations Mission in Liberia), Liberia.
  • Safe and Secure Approaches in Field Environments (SSAFE). February – July 2010. United Nations- African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Security Training and Development Unit, El Fasher, Darfur, Sudan.
  • Northwest Africa Transnational Threats Seminarin January 2011, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Military Observer Course.  May – June 2015 in Turkish Partnership for Peace Training Center, Turkey.
  • General Course on Intellectual Property, April – May 2016, at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Academy.
  • Training Course in Diplomacy and Security Policy for Military Officers and Civil Servants involved in International Relations in October 2015, at Institute for Security Studies, Ethiopia.
  • Gambia National Stakeholders Conference on Justice and Human Rights in May 2017. Gambia
  • The General Officer also attended The 17th Rotary Peace Center Annual Seminar in June 2019, Tokyo, Japan.
  •  As a lawyer, the General Officer also attended African Bar Association (AFBA) Annual Seminar with the Theme: “Accountable Governance as a panacea for the unending conflict in Africa: The legal profession as the driver” in October 2021, Niamey, Niger.
  • Regional Senior Mission Leaders (RSML) Course in November 2021, Nairobi, Kenya.
  • As the former Army Commander the General Officer attended African Land Forces Summit with the Theme: Resilient institutions build resilient leaders” in March 2022, Columbus and Fort Benning, Georgia, USA.
  • The General officer also attended the 2022 Maiden Armed Forces and other Security Agencies Law Conference, with the Theme: “Enhancing the operational capacities of African Armed Forces and other Security Agencies Law as a vital instrument” in June 2022, Abuja, Nigeria.
  • He attended African Land Forces Colloquium, Theme:” US Army Europe and Africa Institutional Training, Train to Fight” in September 2022 in Grafenwoehr, Germany.
  • The General Officer also participated in Chiefs Conclave AFINDEX 2023, “Africa-India Militaries for Regional Security”, in March 2023 in Pune, India.
  • In May 2023, General Gomez attended the African Land Forces Summit with the Theme: “Addressing Security Challenges Through Civil-Military Partnership” in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire.
  • In January this year the General Officer attended a course on “Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context” at the Army War College, Abuja, Nigeria.

KEY COMPETENCY SKILLS

The General officer has several key competency skills including:

a.         Strong working experience in command and control.

b.         Strong experience in legal advice, drafting and an astute courtroom advocate.

c.         Knowledge and skills in leading organizations and designing policy.

d.        Ability and expertise to teach concepts and theories of military/security, conflict/mediation and law.

e.         Proficiency in research and research analysis and effective communication skills.

f.          He also have experience working with diverse ethnic backgrounds and gender in UN, AU and ECOWAS as well as strong working experience in peacekeeping operations in conflict/hostile environments such Liberia and Darfur, Sudan.

COMMAND AND STAFF APPOINTMENTS

As an Officer in the Gambia Armed Forces, he has held numerous Command and Staff appointments and also career appointments both national and international. These include:

  • Aide de Camp (ADC), to the President of The Republic of The Gambia and Commander-In- Chief of The Gambia Armed Forces from May 2000 – September 2003.
  • Platoon Commander (GAMCOY-1)   with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Liberia from September 2003 – September 2004.
  • Operations Officer, Team Leader and MIO at the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), Sudan from November 2004 – November 2005,.
  • Officer-In-Charge of Tourism Security Unit (TSU), Senegambia from April 2006 – December 2006.
  • Contingent Second -In- Command (GAMCOY 4) – African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) Sudan from December 2006 – July 2007.
  • July 2007 – August 2007– Company Commander, Guards Battalion, Gambia National Guards, Bakau.
  • August 2007 – May 2008, Adjutant, Guards Battalion, Gambia National Guards, Bakau.
  • May 2008 – August 2008, Second -In- Command 2nd Infantry Battalion, Farafenni.
  • August 2008 – January 2009, Principal Staff Officer (PSO), Gambia National Army Headquarters.
  • January 2009 – February 2009, Staff Officer (SO1) Policy and Plans, Defence Headquarters, Banjul.
  • February 2009 – May 2009, Instructor, Gambia Armed Forces Training School, Bakau.
  • June 2009, Company Commander (GAMCOY) ECOWAS Standby Forces. Exercise “Djigui,” Burkina Faso through road movement from Gambia to Burkina Faso and back.
  • December 2009 – February 2010, Staff Officer one (SO1) Policy and Plans, Defence Headquarters, Banjul.
  • February 2010 – August 2010, Contingent Commander, UNAMID, Darfur, Sudan.
  • September 2010 – October 2010, Commanding Officer 2 Infantry Battalion, Gambia Armed Forces.
  • October 2010 – September 2011, Second-In-Command, Kanilai Garrison, State Guards Battalion.
  • February – July 2017: Legal Officer, Defence Headquarters, Gambia Armed Forces.
  • March – July 2017: Force Provost Marshal (FPM), Defence Headquarters, Gambia Armed Forces.
  • July- August 2019, Research Intern at West Africa Network for Peace building (WANEP) Office in Dakar, Senegal.
  • April 2020 – September 2023, Commander, Gambia National Army (GNA).

MISSION

The General officer served in various peacekeeping missions which include:

a.         United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) -2003 – 2004 (Peacekeeping).

b.         African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) 2004 – 2005 – (Military Observer).

c.         African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) 2006 – 2007 – (Peacekeeping).

d.        United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) – 2010 (Peacekeeping).

HONORS AND AWARDS

General Ousman Gomez received honors, awards and medals during his military career and within his academic discipline:

a.          UNMIL Peacekeepers Medal, United Nations in Liberia – 2003 to 2004.

b.          AMIS Peacekeepers Medal, African Union, Darfur, Sudan –    2004 – 2005.

c.          AMIS Medal, African Union in Darfur, Sudan – 2005 – 2006.

d.         ECOWAS (Standby Forces) Medal, Burkina Faso- 2009.

e.          UNAMID Medal, United Nations Darfur, Sudan – 2010.

f.          Near East South Asia Medal, NDU (USA) Rabat, Morocco –      2011.      

g.          Outstanding Student Performance, Law Faculty (UTG) The Gambia – 2013 – 2014.    

h.         Command and Staff College (Psc) Medal   Quetta, Pakistan – 2017- 2018.                    

i.           Rotary Peace Fellow scholarship award, Japan – 2018 – 2020                                               

HOBBIES

His hobbies are research, reading, watching news, sports and farming. He is happily married to Marie Anna Gomez and the union is blessed with one (1) boy and two (2) girls.