Kofi Ampeah Woode
The pioneer Commanding Officer (CO) of Ghana Army’s (GA) Artillery Training School (ATRS) – Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Kwame Sam Appiah, has handed over Command to Lt Col Patrick Atiuri, after four-and-half years of leadership.
The handing/taking over ceremony – held in the military to symbolically outdoor the incoming CO, whilst providing a platform for the out-going CO to bid farewell to his troops and friends – took place on Friday 17 February, 2021, at the ‘infant’ ATRS’ Square, Akoefe Camp, Volta Region, and was supervised by Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Kweku Dankwa Hagan – Commander, Army Training Command (CATRAC).
The CATRAC himself, due to handover Command on Friday, 24 February 2023, to take up an appointment with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), gave a brief of the works of the outgone CO, of whom he said, by dint of hard work, determination, sacrifice, and commitment, turned the dilapidated Akoefe Camp into a more habitable place.
General Hagan listed some of Lt Col KS Appiah’s attainment at ATRS as 1) Establishment of the School; 2) Relocation of the School from Volta Barracks to Akoefe; 3) Renovation of infrastructure at the camp; 4) Classification of Artillery Courses up to Al; 5) Instituting of field exercises as part of artillery training; 6) Conduct of live firing exercises as part of training;
Additionally, Lt Col Appiah attained the 7) Establishment Civil Military Cooperation with communities in the School’s area of Conduct of the first high angle firing of the 122 Howitzer; 8) Night laying and firing of guns during training; 9) Delivered artillery lectures at other institutions of the Ghana Armed Forces; 10) Was a key member of Officers’ Practical Promotion Examination Writing Team in 2021 and 2022.
Brig Gen Hagan who announced plans to asphalt the Unit’s streets and Parade Square, urged Lt Col Atuiri to leverage on the Military High Command’s acknowledgement of new developments, dynamic and rigorous training methods employed now at ATRS, as a good foundation for future development in the quality and standard of training to be conducted.
Lt Col Appiah, appointed August 2018 as Acting CO of ATRS, and now Directing Staff at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), led the ATRS to develop the syllabi for all artillery courses being conducted, run 13 courses, introduced the wearing of fragmentation jackets and helmets, field training exercises and live firing exercises, as part of courses.
Over the period, ATRS planted about 5000 Teak trees along its eastern and southern boundaries, as well as 200 coconut trees, 100 orange trees and 100 royal palm trees. All these were done in the face of logistics and financial resources challenges the Unit confronted.
ATRS is one of the training schools under the aegis of GA’s Army Training Command (ATRAC), and has been operationalized to build the capacity of the Artillery fraternity, to provide timely and effective indirect fire support needed by manouevre forces.
Dignitaries present at the farewell parade included the Chief of Staff, Ghana Boundary Commission, Senior Officers, Ghana Military Academy Regular Career Course Intake 46, Officers, Unit Regimental Sergeant Major, Chiefs of Tanyigbe and Akoefe, and Adisadel College 1996 Year Group members.
