President Uhuru Kenyatta, Monday presided over the Passing-out Parade of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) recruits at the Recruits Training School,Eldoret,Uasin Gishu County.
The Recruits Training School (RTS) is located 22 KMs from Eldoret town, Uasin-Gishu District. Before 07 July 2008 it was then a constituent school of the Armed Forces Training College now Kenya Military Academy (KMA). It has since been detached from KMA and currently operates independently.
It is the only recruits training institution in Kenya established back in 1955. It then functioned as a training center for the Kenya regiment based in Lanet Nakuru District. This was an additional force to the Kings African Rifles (KR) composed of British settlers who provided reserve forces for the colonial government. At that time, the training of troops in East and Central Africa was done in Jinja Uganda and Lanet in Kenya.
The Kenya Regiment troops’ training was terminated in 1961 in anticipation of Kenyan independence. The new training center was renamed the East Africa Training Center (EATC) and continued training troops in Central and Eastern Africa and supervising troops training at the unit level.
In 1969 the recruits wing was started as a single division at Lanet with supervisory duties until 1970, when the center was renamed Armed Forces Training College (AFTC) and on 18 March 1971, the first intake of resident recruits commenced training in the College.
On 10 October 1983, the recruits training wing was expanded to 2 divisions, upgraded to a constituent school of AFTC, renamed Recruits Training School (RTS) and relocated to Eldoret. Currently, the school is charged with the primary responsibility of training recruits. This is a process that entails transforming young men and women into robust soldiers of Kenya Defence Forces. Occasionally the school undertakes basic professional military courses such as Drill and Duties Course, Skill at Arms Course and Platoon Sergeants Course. These courses enable Junior NCOs perform their day-to-day duties effectively.
The task of transforming civilians into soldiers needs dedication, patience, perseverance, commitment and above all ever-enduring resourcefulness. These are some of the virtues of the instructors’ cadre at RTS. This explains the reason why the college has grown exponentially over a short period of time. The school motto is ԍsingi Thabiti and the training philosophy is ‘rain hard fight easy’ These are the inspiring pillars of our School and fundamental tenets of the future career progression.
The approved establishment of the RTS is Army number 60 dated 1 April 1985. The School Control Board may review it and forward to HQ KA for approval.
Here are photos from the ceremony:
All Photos Courtesy/Uhuru Kenyatta/MOD
