Page 77 - Mercian Eagle 2012

B company
OC MAJ D DUFLEY
The Company has had a busy and turbulent twelve months with a few new faces. In April we had the arrival of Capt Robbie Davies MBE. He retired as OC HQ Coy 1 LANCS on 31 March and joined the Company on 16 April. He brings with him 36 years of experience and knowledge, which we look forward to utilising as the Company moves forward. In addition, shortly afterwards newly-promoted CSgt Wooley arrived
to take the reins as Mortar Platoon PSI. He got stuck in and has just completed his planning for the Mortar Cadre and Live Firing Exercise,
and thank them for all their hard work for the Company.
The Company is in good form and in good shape, and it would be remiss of me not to mention the hard work done by our AO Vicky Ford on our behalf. We had a busy time last year, and, without a PSAO, Vicky took on extra work to allow the Company to carry on as normal. In addition to the day- to-day routine business we had the return of nine members of the Company from OP HERRICK 14, two back from OP TOSCA
in Cyprus, and the Company has two
opportunities that can only be found in Cyprus. The Company also managed to include some socialising in the programme. At Christmas, Cpl Wood organised a cracking party for the Company which was enjoyed by all. Recently the Officers and SNCOs dined out Brigadier JAJ Thomson OBE QVRM TD DL on his retirement as Honorary Colonel. Diners included ex- members of 3 CHESHIRE and The King’s Regiment and a good many others from The Cheshire Regiment. I must express
my thanks to the PSAO and his team for organising such a superb Regimental Dinner.
Alongside normal military training we have managed to carry out some Adventure Training which was arranged by the CQMS, CSgt Ward. Twenty five members of the Coy deployed to Capel Curig, which acted as the base camp for the weekend. Two groups were formed and they went off in different directions to carry out different activities, one of which was gorge walking. This proved exciting and out-of-the-norm for all those taking part, and a little chilled. (A pump is used to heat the water in the river. To give it that extra challenge; it was
OC
2IC
PSAO CSM
SPSI
Mor Pl PSI CQMS QPSI
Pl Comd 4 Pl Pl Comd 5 Pl Mor Pl Comd
Maj D Dufley
Lt A Wignall
Capt R A Davies MBE WO2 (CSM) D Johnson WO2 (SPSI) M Henry CSgt S Wolley
CSgt J Ward
CSgt P Campbell
2Lt P Highet
Sgt L Gregory
WO2 G Jones
to be conducted in
September on Salisbury
Plain. Finally, we
welcomed our new
QPSI, CSgt P Campbell,
who recently retired as
CSM 1 R WELSH and
has already taken up the G4 mantle. He has settled in well and stamped his mark in the G4 arena on behalf of the Company.
With the arrivals I must mention those who have left us for pastures new. Capt Des McEvoy called it a day and is now working as a practice manger in a vet’s practice, CSgt Clapperton finally hung up his G4 boots and retired. Finally, we bid
a fond farewell to our last Mortar Platoon PSI, CSgt Crump, who has completed 24 years’ service and now is employed in ‘civi’ street. We wish them all well for the future
soldiers serving on Full- Time Reserve Service (FTRS). More recently the Company deployed nine members to OP OLYMPIC as part of the security operation. The Company was
also in the unique position of having an OLYMPIC torch bearer in the form of Pte Blakey, who carried the torch on behalf of his civilian employers in London.
Training remains the focus for
the Company, and we have carried
out some extensive training at various camps, including Altcar, Nesscliffe and Warcop, culminating in the annual camp
in Cyprus. Those who attended managed to accomplish some good hard training with a live-firing exercise, and also to take advantage of the superb Adventure Training
The company is in good form and in good shape...
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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