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Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, Minister of Defence, on Wednesday disclosed that a number of armoured personnel carriers and mechanical transport vehicles had already been procured for the Army, and more of these essential equipment had been short-listed for consideration and procurement in the near future. This, he said, was the modern way of fighting on land, and this ensured that the soldiers were well protected and well motivated to carry out their assignment. Dr Kunbuor, who said this at the Meet-the-Press series, also indicated that restructuring the Army was aimed at reorganization it to effectively respond to the current unfolding internal security dynamics of the country. The future goals are to ensure that there is an Army barracks in every region, and for this reason the Army has been organized from two commands to three commands, southern with headquarters in Accra, central with in Kumasi and Northern with headquarters in Tamale, he explained. He said security in the country had been improved considerably through the timely intervention and pro-activeness of the Army, as well as the provision of the equipment. Dr Kunbuor said the Ghana Armed Forces benefited from 1.5 million Euros worth of equipment from Germany as its contribution towards the establishment of the ECOWAS standby force. He enumerated various operations embarked on by the sector to ensure peace and security, including Operation Calm Life, to combat armed robbery which had led to a reduction in armed robbery and threat to peace; Operation Gongong in the three regions of the north; Operation Halt, which is also prevalent in Eastern, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Western and Central regions, which had helped to curtail the wanton destruction of the environment, and protected Ghana�s natural resources. Operation Cow Leg aimed at flushing out Fulani herdsmen in the Eastern, Volta, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Upper East Regions; Operation Hunter to contain cocoa smuggling along the Eastern and Western borders; Operation Boafo, also ready to assist in national disasters as witnessed in the June 3 disaster this year. On recruitment into the Army, Navy and Air Force, Dr Kunbuor explained that the process was so transparent that it was surprising some people still allowed themselves to be victimized by fraudsters, indicating that applicants had to use scratch cards to open the website and apply, and response email would be sent to them The Minister noted that the details of what was required of an applicant were clearly stated in the relevant adverts in the daily newspapers, and did not require any middleman, and regional balance was considered before arriving at the final selection. Various projects undertaken include a three phase army mess project under the public private partnership of an ultra modern officers mess complex for 96 single-officers, and a 48 three bedroom married quarters for officers in Burma Camp which is currently housing 60 officers. The construction of a new 500 bed-military hospital at Afari near Kumasi was expected to be completed in 42 months, after the signing of the contract in March this year. Touching on War veterans, the Minister said the Veterans Administration Ghana had initiated a programme to honour surviving Second World War Veterans with presentations to acknowledge the sacrifices they had made. He said this year marked the 70th anniversary of the Second World War, and so it was relevant to recall the devastating and ravages that wars had inflicted on societies so as to be able to prevent their occurrence. He urged the media to educate the public to embrace an attitude of tolerance, adding that the sick, infirm and destitute war veterans should be supported to live the remainder of their lives in dignity. Answering a question on the issue of veterans demanding their gratuity from government, Dr Kunbuor said at the appropriate time the Ministry would come out with information on soldiers on individual basis. . He noted that some veterans took loans and loans must be recovered, adding that depending how their finances were handled they would not take home the same amounts. Also on a question as to what role the Military played in the Talensi elections violence, Dr Kunbuor said some military personnel were deployed to ensure security, but he was at the election ground to assist his party to win and they won.