Muscat – H H Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, presided over Royal Air Force of Oman’s (RAFO) annual day celebrations on Sunday observed annually on January 25.

The event included a graduation ceremony of officer cadets, limited service officer cadets and university officers who successfully completed their training programmes. The ceremony was held at the military parade ground at Ghala Base and Sultan Qaboos Air Academy.

RAFO performed a military parade showcasing the skill of its personnel and underscoring the attention accorded to it by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, the Supreme Commander.

Upon H H Sayyid Theyazin’s arrival at the celebration ground, the graduates rendered a military salute as the RAFO band played the Royal Anthem. Following this, H H Sayyid Theyazin inspected the front column of the graduates who performed an infantry parade, led by the Sultan Qaboos Air Academy’s banner, passing before the dais to the accompaniment of military music played by the band.

H H Sayyid Theyazin presented the Sword of Honour to Flt Lt Al Waleed Khalid al Maamari, who achieved overall first place in the Basic Officer Candidates Course. He also honoured Air Lt Yaqoub Khalfan al Riyami for securing first place in the Course for Limited Service and University Officer Recruits.

This was followed by an airshow featuring RAFO fighter aircraft demonstrating advanced capabilities in armament, training and personnel development. The display highlighted the significant modernisation efforts and attention given to RAFO by His Majesty the Sultan.

The RAFO band concluded the proceedings by playing the Royal Anthem and a variety of military tunes. To mark the occasion, H H Sayyid Theyazin posed for a commemorative photograph with the graduates.