Kuwait navy cadets get French training

Twenty Kuwaiti navy cadets are to receive training from the French defense training and consulting firm Defense Conseil International. DCI said the cadets will undergo a four-year course given by its NAVFCO division's CENOE, a naval academy for foreign officers. The course will give the trainees the military, maritime and scientific instruction needed to function as an officer of the watch or as engineering officer of the watch, as well as to perform the duties of department heads on small ships. About 60 naval cadets from the Middle East are training at three company sites: the Naval Academy, Saint-Mandrier Naval Instruction Center; and the Marine Corps School in Lorient, DCI said. "DCI is particularly proud to see that our experience in the transfer of know-how and life skills to future naval officers is acknowledged as unique, like our adaptability to the requirements of the naval and naval/air forces of friendly countries is indeed recognized as the permanent motivation for our action," said Adm. Francois Dupont, executive vice president of DCI-NAVFCO. DCI was founded in 1972 to help with French military equipment sales to foreign countries. Its main mission consists of providing operational training courses based on the know-how of the French armed forces. The French government is a shareholder in the company.