David Manyok Barac Atem

Atem's family lived in Bor up until his death in February of 2021.

In 2020, he attended the senior command training on leadership and military transformation among other high-level military training.

In 1985, he graduated from the SPLA Institute of Revolutionary War Studies (Cadet) where he was commissioned with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.

David joined the Jamus Battalion on May 16, 1983 when fighting broke out in Bor. In January 2021, he was deployed to the SSPDF General headquarters in Bilpham by President Salva Kiir Mayardit and as the Director of Administration, Personnel and Finance by the Commander in Chief of the SSPDF Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit. He held this position for nearly a month, until his death due to COVID-19.

In July 1983, David Manyok Barac left Bor town to join the liberation struggle in Ethiopia where SPLA/M was formed. He, by default, became one of the founders of the new organization.

In 1983, immediately after the formation of the SPLA/M, he attended the first SPLA training in Signal-Communication and Electronic Warfare (CEW) in Zinc, Gambella, Ethiopia where he specialized in decoding and graduated as a specialist in the Signal Unit. Upon this graduation from the signal unit, he was given the rank of sergeant. In 1984, he attended SPLA Institute of Revolutionary War Studies (Cadet) training where he received a Diploma in Military Science and War Studies in Bonga, Ethiopia, Shield One.

David Manyok Barac Atem (January 1, 1959 – February 26, 2021) was a senior South Sudanese military figure. He was a Major General in South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) formerly known as the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA). He contributed to the liberation struggle that birthed South Sudan.