Page 29 - Mercian Eagle 2012

As I write we are running a JNCO cadre in Otterburn where we have 40 young men still battling for their first step on the promotion ladder. Three Company teams are about to deploy and compete on the Cambrian Patrol in deepest darkest wet Wales and D Company are in Warcop conducting Support Weapon cadres ready for next year’s commitments. Battalion sport has been revitalised, with sports fairs and Dragons Den nights where the sports reps had to sing
for their sport and pitch for resources against a grumpy panel of Dragons. Initial feedback looks good, with the Football team beating 38 RE 4–1 and the Rugby 7s team winning the Loughside Inter- services 7s competition. A Battalion Ski Team will deploy on EX FROSTED BLADE in the French Alps over Christmas – such is their hardship – for the first time for many years. Sailing has also come
to the forefront within Battalion as we have taken over the NI Army sailing centre in Newtonards with a plethora of boats of all types. This opens amazing opportunities for all the families and the rest
of Battalion to gain sailing qualifications and have fun on or in the Irish warm water, so watch this space for next year’s Infantry sailing regatta at Cowes!!
In summary the last 12 months have been hugely intensive to say the least, where the boys have been tested to the hilt. Next year will have a similar pace of life with a variety of commitments; however
we are ready for all the challenges ahead. It is fantastic being back at home with Battalion; they are in good shape, ready and willing to prove that we are the best at what we do. STAND FIRM STRIKE HARD.
A (Grenadier) company
Major Dean Canham, OC A (Grenadier) Company, 2 MERCIAN
A (Grenadier) Company has had a year
as epic as any in its recent history. The conclusion of Mission Specific Training for Operation HERRICK 15 delivered us to Helmand ready and keen to get on with what we anticipated was going to be a challenging task, establishing the first considered presence in Kopak, the small ward which sat in the no-mans-land between Nad-e-Ali and Nahr-e-Saraj. Its isolation had seen the area become a hotbed of insurgent facilitation and, since the Royal Marines had arrived
a couple of months prior, it had been the scene of frequent violence. The Company met the significant hurdles that it faced, inside and outside its checkpoints, with zeal and began the tumultuous journey towards turning Kopak towards a path more akin to the transition of Nad-e-Ali, the district that Kopak should ultimately have belonged to. That journey had many mixed virtues but, rather than attempt to recount them afresh here, we have opted to print some of our thoughts and reports from the time in their raw form. They hopefully convey some of the determination, despair, professionalism,
heroism and ultimate victory experienced by A (Grenadier) Company during our time in Kopak.
Since Afghanistan, post-operational tour leave gave way rapidly to our deployment on an operation of a very different kind – Op Olympics. We had
describes our experience of being part of the ‘greatest show on earth’.
The Operational Honours and Awards List has just been published and the A (Grenadier) Company group features on it more frequently than any other sub-unit
Op OLYMPICS Venue Security Force
WIMBLEDON TENNIS AND HADLEIGH FARM MOUNTAIN BIKING
After a period of not-too-intense training for our Venue Security Force role on Op Olympics, the 2 MERCIAN contingent deployed to the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) in Wimbledon, south-
west London, for some venue specific training. The Force was built around A and B Company groups, reinforced by D (FSp) and HQ Companies, who would focus on the day and night shifts respectively.
2 MERCIAN were part of the Army’s planned commitment to ‘London 2012’ and we always knew we were going to Wimbledon. The fact that we were arriving still came as somewhat of a shock to the venue and its LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) staff
however, and we found ourselves having to self-teach on the job to start with. Up to this point the venue had been secured by a mixture of permanent, G4S and short- notice contract security staff and the level of security assurance was deemed low by the Metropolitan Police. A swift security estimate and some rapid relationship
and rapport building efforts with the key stakeholders saw an immediate impact once the troops deployed on day one.
Those key stakeholders included LOCOG’s General, Operations, Communications and Security Managers, the Metropolitan Police (both local and Counter-Terrorist arms), private security firm G4S and the AELTC’s permanent staff. Drawing all the parties together to work
as one effective security team was not a
known since toward
the end of our tour in
Helmand, that we would
be employed as the
Venue Security Force
for Olympic Tennis at
Wimbledon and the
Mountain Biking at
Hadleigh Farm in Essex
and so that was no
great surprise. But we
did not anticipate some
of the complexities
and fervour that we would be wrapped up in. Although in a very different context to Afghanistan, it saw the employment
of some starkly similar protocols and
the Company performing as admirably as it had done previously. The article below
on Op HERRICK 15. Lieutenant Tom Onion and Corporals Davis and McEwan were awarded Mentions in Dispatches for their courage and leadership throughout the tour. Captains Bowman and Marriott, Corporals Couper and Passerelli, Lance Corporal Jess and Privates Gilham and Liston were all awarded
Joint Commander’s Commendations, for various acts of isolated or enduring bravery and superb performance. As superbly
as those individuals did, the Awards are testament to every soldier in the Company Group who was there around them.
role anticipated to be picked up by the Army (deployed in a supporting role), but it became rapidly apparent that if we didn’t then no-one else would. And so, after a two day period of high assurance search of the venue by the police, concurrent to two days practice by the athletes, the doors were opened to the general public to come and watch the Games.
The transition to an Army focus on security rather than private civilian company was not the smoothest. The regime imposed on D-Day took most of the LOCOG, G4S and contracted staff by surprise and made their lives all a bit less convenient as security was rigidly imposed. A period of reassessment and rebalancing saw some changes, and after a couple of days a suitable and workable solution was
Since Afghanistan, post- operational tour leave gave way rapidly to
our deployment on an operation of a very different kind – Op Olympics.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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