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Team Rhino’s victorious Rugby Team
the 2 Star Land Component Command. Supported by 7 Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team and other supporting Brigades, the ARF will be NATOs rapidly deployable asset, delivering up to 100,000 cross-domain troops within 10 days. At the time of writing, the Headquarters are currently being evaluated by Allied Land Command (LANDCOM), through the Combat Ready Evaluation (CREVAL) during Exercise STEADFAST DETERRENCE. This provides NATO certification of the Division’s Readiness. With the Headquarters staff dispersed across various exercise locations, I have been employed as a Liaison Officer linking in with the LANDCOM team supporting the CREVAL process; this opportunity was afforded following my deployment to STEADFAST JUPITER in 2023, with the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC).
With the Headquarters focused on operational readiness, PD outputs still remain a priority; crucial to the physical preparedness of the Headquarters is SSgt (SSI) Matty Hanson and his PT Staff at 2 Signal Regiment who do a fantastic job in supporting the Division.
Looking wider, the annual Divisional Bismarck Challenge was organised and
French Division at the Bismarck Challenge 2023
delivered by Captain (MAA) Scott Pollock and his team. With a change of location from Strensall to Catterick, Bismarck 2023 offered a more challenging terrain for the participants. As always, the event was an enormous success thanks to the team at 4th Light Brigade Combat Team.
A new addition to the sporting calendar was the inaugural Inter-Divisional rugby match between 1st (UK) Division & 3rd (UK) Division. Organised by the 3rd Division, Team Rhino was led by rugby SMEs, along with RAPTCIs - WO1 (SMI) Mike Arnell & SSgt (SSI) Liam Crutchley.
On a cold and frosty day, Team Rhino ran out winners in both the female and male matches.
Looking ahead to the next 12 months, the challenge will be to link in with the RAPTCIs within the Divisional units to ensure that they are operationally ready for the demands of the ARF 24. The Forward SMIs rebalanced across the formations will be crucial in supporting all RAPTCIs on the ground in what will be a challenging, but exciting year for the Division.
1st (UK) Division’s Command Team at the finish line