Phnom Penh (FN), Dec. 16 – With full support from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Minister in charge of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation Mao Havannal, Nall Stephen Dariddh has become the first Cambodian to graduate from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) in the United Kingdom. He also won an honor award during his graduation this month of December 2023.
"I have always worked hard to achieve this goal, and this success will help lift my nation," Nall Stephen Dariddh underscored.
"During these 44 weeks, this was the most difficult time that all the cadres have gone through, we have been disciplined, both physically and mentally, and focused on the vision for the nation's development," Nall Stephen Dariddh underlined.
At the end of the course, Nall Stephen Dariddh expressed his pleasure and honor that the Cambodian flag was hoisted at the RMAS for the first time in over 200 years. He vowed to serve the nation without any personal interest to protect the nation, religion, king and the peace of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
There is not a lot of public information about the award Stephen Nall received, except that he wrote an essay that was judged to be among the top essay in his entire class and unlike the other international awards received, he won this award in a competition between UK and international officers. In other words, the awards listed were given to just international officer cadets. The Bertrand Stewart War Studies Prize is given to the top essay (from either UK or international officer cadet). He beat out UK cadets in this essay contest.
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) is where all officers in the British Army are trained to take on the responsibility of leading their soldiers. During training, all officer cadets learn to live by the academy’s motto: “Serve to Lead.” Other nations choose to send their personnel to RMAS for officer training because it is recognised as a world-leading military training academy. There has been 5,400 international students trained at the Academy since 1947, from 129 countries.
The international cadets enrich the course at Sandhurst bringing with them cultural and operational experience from around the world. Students are selected by their own defence organisations and their applications are made to the Ministry of Defence through the Defence Attaché.
Famous people graduated from RMAS include Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex; Prince William of Wales; Abdullah II of Jordan (King of Jordan); the late Prime Minister Winston Churchill (the only UK PM to graduate from Sandhurst).
In addition, in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a number of leaders also graduated from the RMAS such as Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei and Prince Abdul Mateen and Prince Vajiravudh of Thailand, as well as the Malaysian dynasty.
=FRESH NEWS
