Kofi Ampeah Woode
The pioneer Commanding Officer (CO) of the youngest of Ghana Army’s (GA) Armoured Regiments – 155 Armoured Regiment (155 ARMD REGT) – Colonel (Col) Aaron Richard Osei, has handed over command to Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Philemon Adotey Hoffman, after a year and eleven months of leadership.
A Handing/Taking Over (HTO) ceremony was held at the 155 ARMD REGT Camp, Damongo in the Savannah Region of Ghana, on Tuesday, 14 March 2023, and was supervised by the Commander, 15 Armoured Brigade (15 ARMD BDE) – Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Ben Gah.
Speaking to the gathered, Brig Gen Gah informed that the military thrives on time tested system of seamless transition of command at all levels – a system designed to ensure continuity at every level of command, control and administration, and that it is an expectation of every commander that the day he/she is given command, is the same day he/she plans for next HTO of command.
In a presentation of the stewardship of Col AR Osei of the 155 ARMD REGT (which together with 153 and 154 ARMD REGTs, form 15 ARMD BDE) – General Gah said there have been quantifiable improvement in the development of the Camp, under the command and, what he termed ‘sterling’ leadership of Col Osei, with the support of the Army High Command.
He cited Col Osei for playing his part well in initially deploying with just a handful of soldiers on 21 April 2021, to a barren field which today is a Regiment whose foundation has been strongly laid for growth, for which reason, the name and contribution of Col Osei can never be lost in the history of the 155 ARMD REGT.
Col AR Osei’s tenure is credited with breaking fallow grounds to establish the 155 ARMD REGT by constructing 150-bed capacity Young Soldiers’ accommodation, Unit Magazine, Shelter for armoured vehicles, construction of Camp Defence, Unit Square and Helicopter Pad. A 30 single unit Officers’ and 180-bed Young Soldiers’ accommodation were constructed by the GA Headquarters.
The outgone CO who moves on to become a Director at the Training Department, General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), was noted for also demonstrating finesse in creating and organizing friends of the Regiment to help improve conditions in the Camp.
The deployment of 155 ARMD REGT to Damongo has not only improved the security of the Savannah Region in particular (operational responsibilities go beyond this Region to the 4 northern-most Regions), but has also, in good relationship with Regional Police Commands and other stakeholders, further bolstered safety and security, in Ghana’s northern frontier.
In a farewell speech, Col Osei recounted his first meeting after appointment as CO with the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) – Major General (Maj Gen) Thomas Oppong-Peprah, at which the latter stressed the enormity of the task and said “this will not be an easy task, and I know you know it because you are even to determine where you want the Regiment to be located”.
“I will not begin to list the achievements we have made as a Regiment, because what our distinguished Generals and Special Guests witness in this camp today speaks of how far the Unit has come since its formation. But permit me to sum all the achievements in simple terms and that is ‘155 Armoured Regiment is established, deployed, operational and growing’”, Col Osei stated.
He bade his successor – Lt Col Hoffman, Godspeed, and wished him strength and tons of patience, urging him to remain fair and firm, as it is one way to help the Officers and Soldiers under his command to ‘fight with you’.
Dignitaries present included the Command Operations Officer, Northern Command – Col Franklin Worlanyo K Agbebo; 15 Armoured Brigade Operations – Col Eric Akafia; CO, 6 Infantry Battalion – Lt Col Jerry Ankuyi; CO, 11 Mechanized Battalion – Lt Col Francis Gyimah, members of the Regional Security Council, Officers, Regimental Sergeant Major, Soldiers, Defence Civilian Staff, family and friends.
