Page 6 - QDG Year of 2020

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1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
Our Welshness has been diluted due to a combination of the RAC and Capita’s corps and role-based approach to soldier inflow as well as
the impact of being based in Norfolk
at Regimental Duty be confined to an unwelcome mess bill! Harnessing this serving network has enabled us to monitor developments in the ongoing Integrated Review and the news of a significant injection of cash for Defence was very welcome. We can draw comfort that Light Cavalry is cheap, capable, deployable, useable and in demand as it is committed to operations in Poland and now Mali. The Light Cavalry community of 6 regiments (3 Regular and 3 Reserve) is innovative and has a very collegiate approach to capability development and exemplary Regular-Reserve integration. Indeed, the new Welsh Yeomanry troop established in Cardiff is an example of the depth of our relationship with the Royal Yeomanry. For the first time, our soldiers who leave and settle in South Wales can continue to serve as Light Cavalry Crewman with the Army Reserve and operate alongside QDG.
Work is underway to bring the Regiment up to full manning with Welsh and Marches recruits. Our Welshness has been diluted due to a combination of the RAC and Capita’s corps and role- based approach to soldier inflow as well as the impact of being based in Norfolk, but we can do more to shape our destiny. We are developing our relationship with Capita’s Recruiting staff and educating
them on QDG so that they
can better sell the Regiment
to candidates from our
Recruiting Area. We will
also reinforce our physical
presence in Wales and are
enhancing our social media
presence to strengthen the
QDG brand in our heartland
and broaden our appeal.
As our role is to operate
amongst the population, to
engage and understand the environment and pass back
timely and accurate infor-
mation to the commander,
it is vital that we can effec-
tively engage with men and
women from all cultures
and faiths. Having a more
diverse organisation made up of men and women of many ethnic, cultural, linguistic and faith backgrounds is not political correctness – it is an operational imperative.
Our wonderful Trustees have yet again been busy managing our finances, supporting those in need and ensuring that not only does our museum survive the lockdown, but that the cultural heritage of our Regiment is continually enhanced. We should all be grateful for their expertise, generosity with their time
and dedication that enables so many of the fun things that our soldiers enjoy to happen, in an era when the public purse is less forth- coming. I am particularly pleased that the Trust has generously supported the publication of a new Regi- mental History, which will cover 1959 to the present day. If you want to feature in it, please forward copies of photographs, documents and any written accounts of your service or particular events to our Regimental Curator, Mark Evans at Home Headquarters, 1st
The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, Home Headquarters, Maindy Barracks, Cardiff, CF14 3YE ast-cu-
rator2@cardiffcastlemuseum.org.uk.
The year 2021 offers exciting pros- pects, not least the end of this Pandemic and the chance for all of us to gather once again. For the serving Regiment it promises operational deployments and the chance to do the job it does so well and that will ensure the Regiment
remains First and Foremost!