Page 41 - Mercian Eagle 2012

REME Light Aid Detachment (LAD)
WOIC LAD: WO2 (AQMS) Murray the road, which the Company seemed to
be happy with. This was a very demanding tour as well as being a very kinetic tour for the Company, but the 61⁄2 months that we spent out on ops went very quickly, simply due to the fact that we as a LAD took on extra tasks and got involved in most of what was happening within the AO.
On return from Op HERRICK 15 the
LAD went on Post Operational Tour Leave along with the rest of the Battalion. At this point the OC, Capt Wooldridge, and AQMS
Fishwick moved on to pastures new and the LAD would like to wish them both all the best for the future. WO2 (AQMS) Murray arrived to take up his post as WOIC LAD.
The majority of the LAD, along with the rest of the Bn and Army, deployed on Op OLYMPICS leaving a
very small band behind to sort out the Bn equipment in West Freugh prior to its closure. This saw a number of LAD personnel deploy to West Freugh for a week at a time to ensure that the equipment in this location was fit and ready to move: No mean feat as they had no spares back-up and they had to suffer with poor accommodation (four star star hotel in Port Patrick). The LAD can now look forward to the future in continuing to support the Battalion’s activity planned for 2013.
This year has again has seen major changes for the REME Light Aid Detachment (LAD) after the return from Op HERRICK 15, and the draw-down to Light Role manning. Numbers have decreased from 1+34 to 0+18. The LAD has lost its OC, however it has kept the AQMS appointment.
Op HERRICK 15
The (Dream) Team consisting of WO2 (AQMS) “Billy” Fishwick, SSgt “Pete” Applegarth, LCpl “Ping” Hutchins, LCpl “Danielle” Leeming and Cfn “Jonno” Johnston deployed as the fitter section to support C Company and the Battalion HQ element of Combined Force BURMA; or as it is otherwise known “Death Valley”. We arrived early September, to a camp in the throes of disembodiment by the US Marine Corps, to a LAD which did not actually exist yet! As per the norm, we hit the ground running: working and sleeping in our ISO containers until accommodation was built for us. Once we were settled the long working days and numerous nights set
in. Daily work, manning the LAD sanger, accompanying vehicle patrols to the various CP/PB locations throughout the area of operations, and of course the inevitable quick deployment of the SVR/Wolfhound recovery vehicle to IED blasts/strikes was our remit for the next 61⁄2 months. The tour
Forward repair FOB OUELLETTE
Vehicle recovery in action following an IED strike
was demanding, long and difficult, yet at the same time very rewarding knowing we were keeping our equipment availability above 90% throughout the tour; in turn ensuring both C Company and the Battalion HQ element had their equipment ready for use, very often at short notice.
A Fitter Section deployed to support
A (Grenadier) Coy in the Kopak area known to others as Ops Box GOLD, in what
was at that time known as Nar-e-Saraj (South). This consisted of Sgt “G” Glass, Cpl “Chris” Green (TA),
Cfn “Sean” Mosley (19
CSS) and our very own
Cfn “Mike” Seldon.
They arrived into Patrol
Base SALAANG at
the start of October.
Additional drivers were
required for the “Husky”
vehicles so the LAD
offered up its services
to become drivers for
the Company, and the
LAD took on the task of becoming the MT representatives; so as you can already tell we were very busy from manning sangers, going out on vehicle moves, servicing
the vehicles and having to maintain all equipment within the Patrol Base. Huskies were the vehicle of choice for our tour and
it wasn’t long before the vehicles started breaking down, some requiring rewiring jobs and cannibalisation on others just to keep the fleet on the road. We managed to keep at least three quarters of the Huskies on
Huskies were the vehicle of choice for our tour and it wasn’t long before the vehicles started breaking down...
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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