The newly appointed Commander of the Land Forces of the UPDF Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba has assumed office from the outgoing Commander Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu this afternoon in a scientific event held at the Land Forces headquarters Bombo.
Speaking at the event, Gen. Muhoozi thanked the Commander in Chief H.E Yoweri Museveni for giving him the opportunity to serve as the Commander Land Forces.
He applued all his predecessors for thier contribution towards the development of the Force.
Muhoozi said that he will focus on improving the welfare of the soldiers, thier health especially in these times of the pandemic and political education.
In 1999, Muhoozi joined the UPDF at the rank of officer cadet and graduated in 2000 from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the British Army’s officer training school.
In 2000, Muhoozi was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and deployed in the Presidential Protection Unit (PPU). He began as Head of Combat Readiness, in the office of the PPU’s intelligence office. Muhoozi held this position until he was promoted to the rank of Captain in late 2001. In 2002, he attended a Company Commander/Battalion Commander’s Course in Egypt.
In 2003 with the re-organization of the PPU into the Presidential Guards Brigade (PGB), Captain Muhoozi was promoted to the rank of Major and became the Commanding Officer (CO) of the fledgling Motorized Infantry Battalion, and a member of the Defence Forces Council.
He saw his first combat action in Soroti later that year. The Motorized Infantry Battalion commanded by Muhoozi played a role in the defeat of the LRA in Soroti.
In 2005 he took command and trained with an infantry company in advanced infantry skills at Kasenyi Training School. That company was later integrated into 1 Commando Battalion. In 2006 he supervised the training and organization of the newly formed 1 Commando Battalion in Barlege, Otuke County, Lira District.
In 2007 deployed with the newly formed 1 Commando Battalion to Bundibugyo to tackle the ADF. 1 Commando Battalion defeated the ADF at the battle of Semiliki National Park in March of 2007.
Later that year he enrolled at the Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth Kansas (USA). In 2008 he graduated from Fort Leavenworth, the US Army Command and General Staff College.
In July 2008 he became the UPDF’s first paratrooper after graduating from the US Army’s Airborne School in Fort Benning, Georgia. That same year Muhoozi was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and appointed Commander of Special Forces in the UPDF. In 2010 he was appointed as the first Commander Special Forces Group (SFG), a highly trained unit of the UPDF that includes airborne troops, commandos and marines. The force is responsible for counter-terrorism, direct action, VIP protection and special reconnaissance.
In 2011 Muhoozi planned and supervised the entry of Special Forces into the UPDF campaign in Somalia, as part of the AMISOM mission. Within a few weeks of the entry of Special Forces into Somalia the UPDF successfully expelled Al Shabaab from Mogadishu. In September 2011 Muhoozi was promoted to Colonel.
In early 2012 Col. Muhoozi enrolled at the South African National Defence College for the Executive National Security Program. In August 2012 he was promoted to Brigadier Genera and appointed Commander Special Forces Command.
In 2013 and 2014 Muhoozi was one of the senior UPDF commanders who deployed to South Sudan to support the Government of South Sudan after fighting broke out in Juba between rival factions of the SPLA. The UPDF was able to stabilize the situation in Juba and Bor after defeating a rebel advance on the capital city in January 2014. In 2017 Muhoozi was appointed Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Duties, a position he held until December of 2020 when he was appointed commander SFC.
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