Christopher Israel Umba Gore, also known as Gadwin Gore, was an Ugandan military officer who served as head of the Uganda Army Air Force during the last stages of President Idi Amin's dictatorship. He disappeared during the Uganda–Tanzania War, with some sources claiming that he either died in combat in 1979 or escaped to southern Sudan. Biography Christopher Israel Umba Gore was born in southern Sudan. He was of Madi, Baka, or Kakwa ethnic origin. His father was a member of Juba's old nobility, and he was able to afford attending school in Sudan. Though Gore qualified as a teacher, he was unable to get a job in his home country. As result, he travelled to Kenya in hopes of getting employed as a teacher there; instead, he heard of the large-scale recruitment drives for the military in neighboring Uganda. At the time, Ugandan politicians were struggling for power, backed by the country's numerous tribal groups. The main political rivals, Uganda Army chief Idi Amin (mainly supported by the West Nile tribes) and President Milton Obote (mainly backed by the Acholi and Langi), were recruiting as many members of their own tribal groups into the military as possible to secure power over the country's military. Gore consequently enlisted in the Uganda Army as officer cadet, and was sent on a training course in Greece. There, he decided to switch from the officer course to the one for paratroopers which was harsher but also shorter. Following the conclusion of his training in Greece, Gore became second lieutenant and started to work at the School of Infantry in Uganda. In 1971, Amin launched a coup d'état, ousting Obote and installing himself as President. As member of a West Nile tribal group and dependant of Amin, Gore was among those who profited from the coup. He was rapidly promoted, becoming lieutenant colonel and head of the Mechanised Specialist Reconnaissance Regiment in Masaka, better known as the "Suicide Battalion", by 1973. Gore quickly gained a reputation as "the most ferocious and vicious commander" of the Uganda Army. According to one of his subordinates, Colonel Bernard Rwehururu, Gore was not fond of administrative work, and instead preferred to solve issues through fistfights. A hands-on leader, he "did not know or care much about matters of command". While serving as commander of the Suicide Battalion, Gore was the target of a conspiracy by two majors, Asega