The Air Force Headquarters conference room hosted the opening ceremony of the first training session for military ceremonies masters for the staff and service directorates of the Defense and Security Forces on Monday, August 17, 2026.
Presided over by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Brigadier General Alou Boï Diarra, representing the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Élysée Jean Dao, the event was held in the presence of the Director of Information and Public Relations for the Armed Forces, Colonel-Major Bakary Bocar Maiga.
For three weeks, some forty trainees from various headquarters and service directorates will be trained in the requirements of military protocol and ceremonial, public speaking skills, presentation techniques, rules of precedence, and the conduct of various military ceremonies.
This training aims to strengthen their skills in the field of military ceremonial mastery and to harmonize practices in order to guarantee greater solemnity, rigor, and professionalism during military events. As a showcase for our armed forces, military ceremonies cannot tolerate improvisation or amateurism. They demand rigor, discipline, and a perfect mastery of protocol rules and customs. Hence the need for our armed forces to have duly trained masters of ceremonies capable of ensuring the quality of their presentation. This imperative was reiterated by the military command during the opening ceremony.
"The role of master of ceremonies requires rigor, self-control, and an excellent knowledge of protocol." “Each ceremony is a showcase of our professionalism, discipline, and respect for military traditions,” emphasized Brigadier General Alou Boï Diarra, representing the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
For his part, Colonel-Major Bakary Bocar Maiga, Director of Information and Public Relations for the Armed Forces, stated that this training addresses the imperative of professionalization and the harmonization of practices.
“The master of ceremonies cannot be reduced to simply reading from a script. They contribute directly to the dignity and image of the institution. This training reflects a desire to harmonize our practices and correct certain shortcomings observed in the field,” he explained.
At the end of this session, the trainees will be expected to become true guarantors of the solemnity and prestige of military ceremonies in the various headquarters and service directorates. Through this training program, the DIRPA (Directorate of Information and Public Relations of the Armed Forces) aims to contribute to the development of masters of ceremonies fully versed in the requirements of protocol, capable of embodying, through their poise, rigor, and competence, the values of discipline, excellence, and respect for tradition that underpin the prestige and grandeur of our country's military institution.
First Class Sadio MAIGA
