Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs, Frans Kapofi, has told the latest Namibian Defense Force (NDF) recruits to work hard and maintain discipline and teamwork for them to be good soldiers.

Kapofi addressed the recruits on Christmas Eve at Osona Military Base, where he was accompanied by the Chief of Defense, Martin Phineas.

In a speech availed to Nampa on Saturday, Kapofi told the 1,400 recruits that they were privileged to be selected out of over 100,000 other Namibians who had applied to join the army.

The Namibian Defense Force has begun training its 1,458 cadet officers and recruits.

The opening ceremony took place at the Namibia Defense Force Training Establishment, also known as the Osona Military School, outside of Okahandja.

The opening of the 10th intake regular commissioning course and the 16th intake recruit training saw both cadet officers and recruits warned about the difficult road ahead.

Chief of the Namibian Defense Force, Air Marshal Martin Pinehas, says the group will be trained under the NDF's motto, "Train hard, fight easy."