On 23 April 2010, Danish Major General Ole Køppen handed over his duties to Polish Major General Ryszard Sorokosz. The military ceremony was held in Baltic Barracks in the presence of the invited guests and personnel of the Garrison Headquarters, National Support Elements and Headquarters Company.
Military Ceremony
The ceremony started with the march-in of the Szczecin Military Band and the honour guard formed up by servicemen from the 100th Signal Battalion. “It is a special moment for me to stand here on the last day of my duty in the Corps and the last day of my active duty in my military service,” said Major General Ole Køppen to all personnel of the Garrison Headquarters, National Support Elements and Headquarters Company as well as the invited guests. Among them there were Commander of the 12th Mechanized Division Major General Marek Tomaszycki, Commander of the Command Support Brigade Colonel Jarosław Mika, Commander of the Garrison Mobilization Centre Lieutenant Colonel Mirosław Pieczykolan, Municipal Police Commandant superintendent Jacek Wolf, Military Police Commandant Colonel Wiesław Makowski and others. General Køppen talked about friendship and effective cooperation he had experienced as Deputy Commander at the Multinational Corps Northeast and how he had enjoyed the service here. “Thank you for you constant support,” he said. As a closing remark he added: “Comradeship – keep that working and you will forever do well.”
Afterwards, the Commander of the Multinational Corps Northeast Lieutenant General Rainer Korff took the floor. “You have done a marvelous job as Deputy Commander. You have found the right balance between just listening, engagement and active involvement. You have been helpful at the right time and open-minded,” he said. “Thank you for your dedicated work within the Multinational Corps Northeast”, General Korff stated. To appreciate General Køppen’s excellent performance as Deputy Commander, General Korff awarded him with the Corps Medal.
The words “I release you from the post of the Multinational Corps Northeast Deputy Commander” indicated the real end of General Køppen’s tour of duty in Szczecin. All his duties were handed over to Major General Ryszard Sorokosz who also addressed all the gathered. “It is a great honour and privilege to be a member of this Headquarters. I am looking forward to good and efficient cooperation with all of you,” he said. After the ceremony he also added “It is an interesting challenge. I will do my best to fulfill all the tasks and duties and to introduce myself into the work as soon as possible.”
Barbeque
After the ceremony, everybody gathered in the Jutland Garden where in less formal way the farewell ceremony for the outgoing and welcome ceremony for the new Deputy Commander could take place. Thanks to the favourable spring weather, everybody enjoyed the common barbeque and had a nice time spent on chatting.
