Page 50 - Journal Compilation

2015 has seen the Light Aid Detachment deploy on Ex WESSEX STORM, Ex TRIDENT JUNCTURE, support Op TEMPERER and Op TRAMAL, participate in the Regimental move to Gaza Barracks and incorporate Urgent Operational Requirement equipment into Core Programme. Not to mention conducting REME speci c courses, career courses and supporting Light Cavalry development – a busy year to say the least.
The year started with the LAD deploying on WESSEX STORM, the rst ever Light Cavalry CT3 exercise. As the BG LAD it allowed us to shape how Equipment Support would be provided to all three Light Cavalry regiments. C Sqn was nominated to trial mounting the Fitter Section on COYOTEs, something Tiffy Brooks and his team was keen to do until they saw the February weather forecast and the distance of the road moves. The tter trucks that other Fitter Sections were operating from provided superior pro- tection from the elements, but were deemed to be too slow to keep up with the sabre squadrons and together with the SV(R) it meant that REME personnel were operating in signature vehicles; other options would need to be trialled on TRIDENT JUNCTURE.
Any Regimental move sees a high turnover in its REME per- sonnel; this was same for The Light Dragoons’ LAD seeing a 77% turnover, including the EME, ASM and six of the nine SNCOs. This has caused the LAD to invest heavily into Driver, Commander and Equipment Maintainer Courses to enable rst- rate Equipment Support to be provided to the Regiment. WO1 (ASM) Hugheston-Roberts was already located in Gaza Barracks commanding 5 Medical Regiment’s REME attachment and was well placed to lead the advanced elements of the LAD with Sgt Cooley who was deployed forward to ensure new arrivals to the LAD were welcomed and no G4 issues occurred.
Ex TRIDENT JUNCTURE saw the EME, B Sqn Fitter Section and elements of A Sqn Fitter Section deploy to Chinchilla Training Area as part of 4 Multinational Brigade for the largest NATO train- ing exercise in over ten years. Tiffy Goldthorp adapted the ES doc- trine from Ex WESSEX STORM and trialled mounting a REME tradesman forward as the fourth man in the Troop Sergeant’s JACKAL. Cpl Kerr and Cfn Wright were chosen as the guinea pigs and the experiment was deemed successful as they provide intimate ES often meaning they could repair forward while giving them the opportunity to participate in some of the Light Calvary tasks assigned to B Sqn. The eet held up well throughout the exercise, despite the terrain being like the surface of the moon, with the only major incident being when the JACKAL that Cpl Beevers was recovering rolled on a fairly treacherous section of track. In true Recovery Mechanic style Cpl Beevers quickly carried out the calculations necessary, to implement an indirect pull of the side- over-side casualty, righting the vehicle and recovering it back to the BSG without further incident.
Throughout the exercise the EME was attached to the local NATO HQ as the 4 Brigade LO. This meant he had to stay in a hotel in Albacete, something that nobody in the LAD held against him, especially as the Wi-Fi connection was not as strong as he would have hoped. When the CO recalled him to work in Brigade HQ for the nal phase of the exercise there was however a chance for him to earn his LSA by assisting the Brigade EME with the Recovery Plan to get the Regiment’s equipment back to the UK.
Following TRIDENT JUNCTURE there was a need to rehabili- tate the Regiment’s equipment ready for Ex WESSEX STORM 16 and to carry out the numerous modi cations that came in for the JACKALs, COYOTEs and PANTHERs as part of the UOR into Core Programme. The programme was designed to make UOR vehicles more compliant with DVSA road legal standards, but meant that each PM vehicle required 35 hours’ labour to t all the modi cations. Thankfully the squadrons sent Light Dragoon capbadged personnel to the LAD to assist with the rehabilitation by completing Crew Tasks. This resulted in The Light Dragoons being the rst Light Cavalry Regiment to complete the programme.
While the LAD has maintained a Fitter Section on R3 in support of VANGUARD, the Recovery Mechanics have also supported Op TEMPERER for 4 Brigade, maintaining a recovery crew on 12 hours’ Notice to Effect and LCpl Goldstraw has undertaken several training packages ready to deploy to Libya should Op TRAMAL be called in the New Year.
The LAD has been ‘good busy’ for the past 12 months and it looks as if next 12 will remain the same: with Regimental Ranges, Ex WESSEX STORM 16, an EU BG exercise and The Light Dragoons’ Tercentenary all in the rst half of the year. The LAD is proud to be attached to a regiment which is in such demand and looks forward to the adventures next year will bring.
Arte et Marte. EGM
Cfn Newman working on a JACKAL in preparation for Ex TRJE 15
The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Light Aid Detachment
The Regimental mantra
‘I think you’ll nd we’re only funded to x it to 80%’
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