Phnom Penh (FN), Apr. 19 – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet stated that Cambodia's conflicts and wars in the past led to a high number of military officers in the country and that is because integration, organization, and maintenance of forces were necessary to end the wars.

The premier spoke on Friday (Apr. 19) during an inauguration of buildings and closing 2023 training course of the National Defence University.

Samdech Thipdei also expressed his desire to achieve a balance between military officers and soldiers in the future. To integrate soldiers into future plans, a significant portion of them must enter through the proper channels of duty.

Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet underscored that, "People often ask why there are so many military officers. I explain that if you look at Cambodia's history, you'll understand that most current Cambodian military officers participated in past conflicts. To end those conflicts, we needed to integrate and organise our forces, but we did not balance it properly. This imbalance has weakened Cambodia's capabilities. In the future, leadership must strive for a better balance between military officers and soldiers to facilitate organization."

The premier continued, "Soldiers in the field may wonder why there are fewer opportunities for advancement compared to those in headquarters. This is because of our past failure to prepare adequately. We have an abundance of military officers, but it is not appropriate to push them all into combat roles. Instead, we need to increase the number of soldiers and establish a proportionate structure of lieutenants, soldiers, and military officers for the future. Particularly, combat units must be adequately filled to adhere to regulations."

On the occasion, Samdech Thipadei also added that military personnel at all levels of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces must implement and adhere to the approach of "mirroring, bathing, scrubbing, treatment, and surgery”. Commanders at every level are tasked with assigning, disseminating, managing, and actively listening to the concerns of their soldiers to ensure timely adjustments and improvements.
=FRESH NEWS