2Garrison Commander and Flag Officer, commanding the Western Naval Command, Commodore Timothy Samuel Appiah, on Monday urged the public to change the erroneous perception that the military is an enemy to the civilian.
He said the military is there to protect life and property as well as safeguard the territorial integrity of the nation and therefore would continue to cooperate and collaborate with civilians at all times.
Commodore Appiah made these remarks at a tree planting exercise as part of the Ghana Armed Forces Community Relations Week Celebration at Adiembra in the Western Region.
The one-week celebration was observed on the theme: "The Ghana Armed Forces - your dependable partners in national development".
He noted that the purpose of the celebration was to strengthen the civil and military cooperation built over the years.
Commodore Appiah indicated that the celebration would also be used to commemorate 50 years of Ghana Armed Forces' participation in international peace support operations.
He said the tree planting exercise was aimed at sustaining the environment in view of the rapid degradation of forest reserves by chainsaw
operators.
Commodore Appiah said the GAF has a special operation christened "Operation Halt", which aimed at clamping down on illegal timber logging in forest reserves in the country and therefore the tree planting exercise was a way to sustain the environment.
Other activities lined up for the one week celebration included a medical outreach, donation to an orphanage, live concert band and fun games.