Guards' first black officer 'just wants to do his job'

[SO19]

Guards' first black officer 'just wants to do his job'

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:06am GMT 27/01/2007

The first black officer to join the Foot Guards said yesterday that his post meant the “door is always open” for people from all backgrounds to join any part of the Army.

2nd Lt Folarin Adeyemi Olatokunbo Olugbemiga Kuku will be the first commissioned black African to wear the Grenadier Guard’s famous bearskin in its 350 year history.

But before the Nigerian born and Harrow-educated soldier leads the guard outside Buckingham Palace he will spend six months fighting in Afghanistan.


Mr Kuku, who has wanted to join the Army since he was in the cadet force at school, told The Daily Telegraph yesterday that he joined to pursue a career not centered on “material gain”.

“I wanted a profession that offered the benefits and lifestyle that the Army did, not something just based on material gains. It was almost like a calling, like becoming a doctor,” he said.

“The Army is based on people working together for a common goal and it’s about a camaraderie you won’t find in many other professions.”

As a member of the battalion’s Queen’s Company the officer, who studied Ecological Resource Management at Newcastle University, will be one of the monarch’s chief bodyguards when the battalion returns to ceremonial duties in London next year.

The soldier, whose father is a doctor in Lagos and whose mother is an African chief, said his experience of discrimination in the Forces was “absolutely nothing”.

“No one went out to make life easier or harder for me. I was just treated me like a normal cadet,” he said.

He added that rather than being a role model it was important for him to “get on and do the job”.

“I’m not the first black officer in the British Army, only the first black officer in this battalion,” he said.

“I’m not a role model but I can show that the door is always open to people whatever their background.”

He said that, being Nigerian, he brought his own “eccentricities” to the regiment that included “wearing very loud socks”.

During his year at Sandhurst the officer played on the same polo team as Prince William.

He described the future monarch as “very, very adept” at his job.

“The Prince was not a close friend as he was a term behind me but if walked past he would say hello,” he said.

The Army currently has more than 8,000 troops from ethnic minorities, including foreign and Commonwealth, who form 8 per cent of the Service’s personnel.

2nd Lt Kuku chose the Grenadier Guards because of its famous history and the mixture of ceremonial duties and “green Army” soldiering.

While 2nd Lt Kuku was looking forward to putting the tough lessons learnt at Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst to the test in Afghanistan, he said he was still apprehensive about going to a country where the Taliban are allegedly planning major attacks in the coming spring.

“Obviously I am a little bit nervous about going to Afghanistan. I am just out of training and am deploying on operations straight away. But I am looking forward to doing my job and it will be great to get a chance to put my training into effect.”

Only three weeks out of Sandhurst, 2nd Lt Kuku said he was now trying to fit in with the battalion along with four other new officers.

“The battalion reacted to me the same as any young officer and I’m treated as a just a new face. We all still have a lot to prove, get our eye in and the battalion wants to see how we work.”

Formed under Charles II while he was in exile, the Grenadiers are one of the most senior regiments in the Army.

It has fought in almost major campaign of the British Army and thirteen members of the regiment have been awarded the Victoria Cross.

The bearskin cap was worn following the Grenadiers’ role in defeating the elite French Imperial Guard, who wore the headdress, at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... rds126.xml

[Grimey Vibes]

Yeah i don't see any big deal over this at all. So what if he is black and an officer, i didn't even notice that he was the first black officer or the only one in the regiment. To me he was just a new officer rocking his one pip like any other.

[anglo-saxon]

The only reason they commissioned him was so that he didn't have to have his name called on muster parade...

"Smith?" ... "Sergeant!"

"Jones?" ... "Sergeant!"

"Folin acci cookoo, oli....ah, fark it! Smith?"