Page 38 - Light Dragoons 2023 CREST

It was all change midway through the year, with the handover between Captain Godfrey (now Trg Offr) to Captain Chamberlain (previously Coy 2IC at the Army Foundation College). It was an inter- esting handover period with Chris as he was heavily involved in Op INTERFLEX which meant he was constantly being pulled away for meetings and training with the Ukrainians. The saving grace for the handover and initial bedding in period was the continuity of the oracle, Sgt Allen!
The biggest interaction I had in my first official week was that everyone who came to my office asked if I was going to main- tain the chocolate fridge like Chris did. Clearly the attraction of chocolate, sweets, and pop ensured that the office was never a quiet one. A complete change to my usual pace of life (after dealing with 16/17-year- olds) saw me now working within RHQ and having the constant interruptions from Maj Cuthbertson. He clearly doesn’t have the same appreciation for champagne and fine cheese like me and my fellow RDG Officers have!
It was a good year for promotions and appointments for the LDs. One of my first roles was to sit on the Tpr-LCpl board and the LCpl-Cpl board, where it was good to see the impartiality of the board members and the actual pleasure felt when some of the names were decided for promotion. In total we had:
• 20 x Tpr – LCpl
• 12 x LCpl – Cpl
• 3 x Cpl – Sgt: Rae, McDonnell and
Atkinson
• 3 x Sgt – SSgt: Tynan, Cheshire and
Robinson
• 4 x SSgt – WO2: Lillico, Thomson,
Greenwood and Smith
Dream team Careers management December 2022
• 3 x WO2 – WO1: Martin, Cawthorne and Duncan
• 1 x LE Commissioning: Richardson
A good year for a lot of our soldiers and rightfully rewarded for their endeavours. Hopefully some good news to follow in early 2023 with the upcoming WO2 results
The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
2022 has been an extremely busy year in which the Catering Department has been deployed on UK and overseas oper- ations, including Gibraltar and Kenya. The year started with the deployment of the whole team for CAST NORTH & Ex WESSEX STORM. Here, the chefs deployed in advance to conduct the takeover of Knook and Westdown Camp and the department split into 3 locations for the bulk of the exercise. One location was that of the then QM (T) Capt Bell’s A2 Ech where he was wined and dined by LCpl Kgaogano and Cpl Smith, feed- ing him an array of fine cuisine.
Sgt Brown and Sgt Gurung were the kitchen managers of 2 locations feed- ing 400 at Knook and 300 at Westdown. The department received plaudit and a mention by the exercise staff on the food being the best they had seen for a very long time, which showed their dedication and hard work. The chefs had a small well-deserved rest and AT
long weekend away in March 22 in the Lake District, where some of the chefs were pushed out their boundaries whilst mountain biking.
On returning to camp after a small amount of Easter leave the chefs were then rapidly deployed to Wathgill Camp. We were then issued orders to establish a potential training base location in Wathgill. The department were tasked with feeding up to 1000 training per- sonnel under Op INTERFLEX. This then became the main effort for the Ministry of Defence, and the Catering Department were at the forefront of this operation. The chefs have in this time fed an array of VVIP’s including Ministers and the Secretary of State, Generals, and ambassadors - showing their flair and skills on multiple occasions. Of note Cpl Smith and Pte Elliott also fed the Prime Minister in the field receiving yet more praise and accolades.
The Catering Department quickly estab- lished themselves as the best training catering team not only on Op Interflex but also whilst on Exercise Rhino Caterer. The 4-chef team were gold overall winners in the Divisional com- petition. Led by Sgt Gurung with team members LCpl Kgaogano, Pte Morgan, Pte Elliott pulling out all the stops and wowing the judges with their compo ration and fresh dishes. The team was outstanding, not only did one of our own apprentices, Pte Elliott, complete her Level 2 Catering qualification she also won the McKenzie award for excellence. This was for her commitment and dedi- cation to learning throughout the year. Altogether, this was a wholesome and fulfilling year which pushed the depart- ments output and resilience to the max. With a small workforce and long days, the Catering Department of the Light Dragoons has been thoroughly tested and not found wanting.
ME
Catering Department
Regimental Careers Management Office
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