Page 46 - RSDG Year of 2021 CREST

44 EAGLE AND CARBINE
QUARTERMASTERS’ DEPARTMENT
Captain S Chart & Warrant Officer Class 2 S McCall
2021 was a tremendously rewarding period for both the Quartermaster Departments. The start of the year saw confirmation that SCOTS DG Battlegroup was to deploy once again on Ex WESSEX STORM, layered on top of the myriad of in barracks and training tasks always expected of the G4 teams – it has been another busy year!!
Firstly, we must recognise the significant personnel changes which have taken place over the past twelve months. We waved goodbye and good luck to the out- going QM(T), Capt ‘Malky’ Hendry, who has now assigned to 51X as the SO3 G3A - we thank him for his tireless work. Our RLC 1LO SSgt Sibakwe has now left to seek challenges elsewhere with a transfer to the AGC - we wish him all the best for the future. Congratulations go to Sgt Kempton who passed the CIS PET at ARMCEN and has been selected to instruct at the CIS School and, finally, and most importantly, the RQMS, WO2 Brown moved on pro- motion to RHQ as the RSM; his work and guidance whilst RQMS has significantly benefitted the depart- ment and Regiment, and we congratulate him on his well-deserved appointment.
We also welcome the next cohort of G4 enablers to the dark corridors of the QMs Department. Capt Stevie Chart has taken over as the new QM(T), with slippers and drone in hand! WO2 Scotty McCall arrived from A Sqn to take over as RQMS, bringing a wealth of ideas and enthusiasm, from which the soldiers and officers will undoubtedly benefit. Our RLC 1LO team has been fully regenerated with the arrival of SSgt Shanks, Cpl Crawford and Pte Burenival; we welcome all and are sure they will enjoy a very productive assignment to SCOTS DG.
With our feet barely back under the desk and Xmas festivities still fresh in the memory, the ‘fastballs’ from RHQ began relentlessly dropping in. The first quar- ter of the year saw regimental deployments to ranges at Warcop and Castlemartin. As always, unit ranges placed significant demands on the department SMEs, with the RQMS(T), Cha Lang, having to school over- zealous Sabre Sqns 2ICs on some of their more opti- mistic equipment demands and RQMS McCall given a baptism of fire having only just arrived from A Sqn, soon learning that ammunition wasn’t a simple ‘just order and it arrives’ process. Needless to say, the team
The JAMES SSgt conducts his own rehab to ensure he remains taskworthy
came through in fine form, reinforcing our reputation as a ‘best practice’ G4 team when working with out- side agencies. Of significant note was the visit of the environmental health team during CMR; they came to inspect our COVID19 measures and, to the immense credit of health and safety ‘Ninja’ Sgt Musson and Cpl McAinsh, the Regiment earned an excellent report, for which the QM, Jimmy Taylor, allowed himself a big pat on the back (however we all know the truth!!).
The pace didn’t stop, however, and, before we had time to catch our breath, we were deploying the Regiment to STANTA training area for the initial phase of WESSEX STORM. The CSS task to resource a BGHQ and three squadrons in the field was one we hadn’t attempted for nearly five years and it’s fair to say, at first, we underestimated the complexity of the task. Deploying a Medical Centre, a Field Kitchen, wash- ing and toilet facilities, and not to mention the QM’s ‘comfort’ area, proved to be a headache inducing task with lots and lots of friction to keep us scratching our heads. All this was navigated with the additional pres- sures of managing a fleet, meaning that for the exercise