Barclay Training Center to be Turned over to Defense Ministry
(MONROVIA) July 28, 2009- The Barclay Training Center (BTC) will be handed back to the Government of Liberia on July 31, 2009 at a ceremony attended by the Minister for National Defense and the United States Ambassador after four years of management by the US State Department- funded Security Sector Reform (SSR) Program for the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL).
Under the SSR Program, facilities at the BTC have been refurbished and upgraded to make it a suitable place for the recruitment and training of soldiers in the new AFL. The BTC saw more than 14, 000 applicants pass through its gates since January 2006 for selection and vetting to join the AFL. The first class of the new AFL (100 soldiers) were trained at the BTC before basic training moved to Camp Ware in Careysburg.
The media is advised that the formal handover ceremony will take place at 10:00am on Friday, July 31, 2009 at the BTC. Those wishing to attend must arrive no later than 09:45am.