Page 65 - MERCIAN Eagle 2022

Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess
CSgt Joynes
June 2021, it has been a busy period for the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess since returning from Cyprus. Upon setting new roots in Weeton with all fixtures and fittings in the right place we bid farewell to WO1 (RSM) Catherwood and welcomed in WO1 (RSM) Clements.
Due to a small bug called Covid19 (You may have heard of it) we had to wait until August before we could officially Dine
the Regimental Sergeant Major in, as we squeezed into the mess for the evening, we enjoyed some beef Wellington and copious amounts of wine with vocal entertainment from ‘Mr Vice’ Sgt Ball.
Our next event was immediately around the corner, we enjoyed a Peaky Blinders themed night with our partners for our summer function, organised by CSgt Rich Joynes, the evening went down a storm, with lots of entertainment on offer including virtual horse racing (which involved some enthusiastic betting from mess members) casino stalls and live music.
Outside of mess social events, we hosted several visits – 4X Brigade Commander, Colonel Infantry and most recently Colonel of the Regt, General Ian Cave.
In the latter part of 2021, the Sergeants took part in the Sergeants competition which saw them take on several challenges such as navigation in the forest of Bowland to fitness tests, with the final part coming in the way of a planning exercise. The overall winner of this tightly fought event was Sgt Ross Hallam and was presented his award by the CO.
We deployed to Kenya for 10 weeks, albeit this time we were deployed as Task Force Hannibal (TFH). A good deployment which saw the Sgts Mess (forward) hold 2 social events. We returned from Kenya and said thank you to the outgoing PMC ‘WO2
Russ Weaver’ and his sidekick PEC ‘CSgt Rich Joynes’ and welcomed in the new PMC ‘WO2 Gaz Rigley’ and new PEC ‘CSgt Stevie Gardner’.
After a massive effort from the PMC, a ‘past and present’ event was successfully proposed and executed. The event, held in Nottingham was an opportunity for mess members from days of old (serving or retired) and present members to RV and ‘spin dits’ about good times, grow the network and link in with old friends whilst creating new.
Our final opportunity as a mess to let
our hair down saw us dressed as Heroes and Villains whilst conducting challenges around Blackpool before moving to a hotel for the disco and prize giving. Another huge success and one to be remembered.
RSM final word
The Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Mess has been in outstanding form (as expected) and every member has the tools to succeed in their new respective messes. It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to be the
Presiding member of an incredible Mess that sits in an outstanding bn. I wish all members every success moving forward. Stand Firm, Strike Hard.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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