Kofi Ampeah Woode
Ghana Army’s (GA) Training Command (ATRAC), has successfully supervised the transition of Command of the Army Recruit Training School (ARTS), from Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) John Tenzii to Lt Col Abdul Wahab Issah.
The Handing/Taking Over event for the Commanding Officers (CO) took place on Friday 10 March 2023, at the ARTS, Shai-Hills, with the Commander, ATRAC – Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Stephen Woseadzikpo Kweku Parbey as the Guest-of-Honour, supported by the Deputy Chief Staff Officer (DCSO), Operations and Training, Army – Brig Gen Frank Nartey Tei.
Lt Col Tenzii, who assumed command of the ARTS in April 2020, and has now been appointed General Staff Officer Grade 7 (GSOI G7), Training, at the Army Headquarters, is credited with his Unit displaying a high sense of professionalism and dedication to duty, in ensuring quality training and administration of recruits.
During Lt Col Tenzii’s tenure, ARTS trained three (3) batches of recruits with the highest number, in the history of the Unit, and concurrently catered for the welfare and development of the Unit.
The policy to expand the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) necessitated the beefing up of the manpower levels in the GA, which was then using only the ARTS for training of recruits, which was smaller to contain the large number of recruits expected. Lt Col Tenzii brought his expertise to bear on the inclusion of GA’s Jungle Warfare School (JWS), Army Special Operations Training School (ASOTS) and Armour Training School (ATS), to support the training of the large numbers of recruits.
Taking a cue from current trends of enhancing the working conditions of personnel in GA in particular, and GAF generally, Lt Col Tenzii’s administration saw the construction of a Senior Non-Commissioned Officers’ (SNCO) Mess, and the construction and furnishing of the Second-In-Command’s accommodation (through the support of the former Imam – Chief Alhaji Alhassan Latif Lugsana), the construction of a Guard’s restroom, and a 1000-seater capacity Dining Hall, through the support of Higher Command.
ARTS purchased a Toyota Hiace mini-bus for troops welfare, a 4.5-ton Kia Rhino truck for water sachet delivery after production by the ARTS water factory, and a heavy-duty photocopy machine for printing of recruits’ examination materials in the Orderly Room – considering the high number of recruits the school had to train.
The new CO – Lt Col AW Issah, has been in the training field particularly at the Ghana Military Academy (GMA) and as Deputy Director, Training, at the Army Headquarters, Burma Camp.
Present at the ceremony included Senior Officers, Officers, the Regimental Sergeant Major, Soldiers, Defence Civilian Staff, and invited guests.
