Page 8 - Journal Compilation

10 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS
The weather failed to dampen moral
der titles, arm badges, sports kit, ags and Regimental tie. Sgt Foster used his media skills to good effect to assist with visuali- sation of the dress items whilst Lt Giles and Mr Laver went to work on the ‘statement of user requirement’ (SUR) which is a key part of the tendering process used by the Defence procure- ment agencies. We quickly learnt the painfully slow process of procuring dress items through the antiquated and dysfunctional system that is Defence Clothing. After considerably more time than even our worst case projections identi ed, Defence Cloth- ing were ready to demonstrate their wares to the Commanding Of cers at Abbey Wood in Bristol. This turned out to be my darkest day as project lead, not helped by the fact that both COs had just arrived off an overnight ight from Quebec, Canada. In short, the contractor at that stage was removed and we ap- proached a private company to produce the superior Regimental badges we are now wearing.
Layered Security
Two new Second Lieutenants, Will Kellard and Jason Jibb, were drafted directly into the team along with SSgt Hallas as the “Ticket Master” with the all-consuming task of organising the seating plan for 2,800 guests and VIPs. 2Lt Kellard was tasked with inviting international VIPs from af liated units from Can- ada to Pakistan. 2Lt Jibb went through the painful process of 15 versions of the parade journal and parade tickets yet somehow managed to avoid the draft for a journal sub-editors position.
The nal week in the run-up to the parade was extremely busy with the daily rehearsal programme commencing at 0500hrs. This was where the team really earned its money with early starts and late nishes ensuring synchronisation of the multi- tude of outside agencies and activity during the build phase. The castle became the focal point for the erection of seating, large screen displays, marquees, a catering platform, VIP seat-