Page 79 - MERCIAN Eagle 2011

EXERCISE DOUBLE CROSS!
Imagine the scene, you are all dressed
up in your chinos, blue shirt, blue blazer
and Regimental tie. The rest of your fellow officers are all are all ready to go to France. At 4 MERCIAN HQ, Wolverhampton, you encounter a weird
looking vehicle, officially
known as a PANTEC.
The Commanding
Officer says, “We
will be dropping you
off at Marchwood in
Southampton.” The
Adjutant, Captain
Sam Boudet-Fenouillet is still in uniform, something did not seem right. We travelled south on the M5 and then turned onto the M50, a cold silence fell amongst
us in the vehicle. The M50 takes you to the Brecon Beacons. The group decided that
if we hear that infamous cattle grid, then
we would attack the first man that comes towards us and escape! Whilst we were
in mid conversation, we heard the cattle grid. The vehicle started doing terrible manoeuvres, then it stopped, the doors open, and we see the RSM. We get detailed off into teams of 3-4. There were men dressed up in DPM and balaclavas. We were shuttled into tents and told to change into our combats. The Colonel welcomes and explains what we are to do over the next 48 hours. It was a test of whether we have what it takes to be a cut above the rest. Whether we deserve the privilege to command. We were at an unknown location and 23 SAS were acting as a hunter force
and dogs were being used. As soon as our brief was finished we were given the go ahead to escape. We were given a grid and were told to report over the radio when we arrived. We exited the farm, and made our
way north crossing over a stile and running off into the training area, our RV was at least 6 miles away. We arrived at Farm 1 and were given a briefing by WO2 Walker. Our task was to conduct a CASEVAC 1
km away. It felt as if our lungs were about to burst by the end of the serial. We shook ourselves off and were given another grid to go to. A few hours later....via some woodblocks, jumping into ditches (avoiding the hunter force), twisting our ankles we arrived and were given another grid over the net. The assault course at Sennybridge is a very long one, much longer if you
are fatigued. An hour later, we just about managed to scrape out
3 complete attempts.
At the next stand we
had to conduct a tyre change.
We were dropped
off to ‘Dixie’s Corner’.
Enjoying the warmth in the vehicle, we took a moment to get a quick power nap. We were thrown out of the vehicle and given our next grid. It was becoming dark, weather was getting worse, and our next grid was some sort of Farm, luckily for us
it was only 6 miles away. It took us an hour and a half to reach the Farmhouse. We all shuffled in and kipped.
The following morning, we were woken up, loaded our kit onto the Pantec vehicle and watched it drive off. Later we were told that we should have been on the Pantec vehicle heading back home. We had to wait another hour for that Pantec to turn around collect us. The Pantec emerged from the misty depths and picked us up. Half an hour passed by and the Pantec came to
a halt. Excellent, a service station! The Adjutant requests our presence outside. Hmm, this did not look like a service station, or Wolverhampton TA centre. We were at the bottom of Pen y Fan. Eventually, we completed the route with no injuries and
felt very happy with how the tab went. Several minutes later, we were informed that the fun was over, we were to conduct
a river crossing. No one was shocked or aghast. We all felt so numb to any unknown elements that we thought nothing could
Whilst we were in mid conversation, we heard the cattle grid
break us anymore.
We were summoned back and told that the exercise was over. We completed Exercise Double Cross. It was official, we survived the
cut. 7 chocolate bars, 2 cans of coke and
a breakfast roll later, we hurtled ourselves onto the pantec and found ourselves awake at Wolverhampton TA centre. Moral of the story: Always expect the unexpected.
2LT D J RAWJI
Hmm, this did not look like a service station
Regimental Headquarters
We lost two of our major stalwarts during 2011.
First Major Bob Prophet finally retired at the end of March. Bob was appointed as Assistant Regimental Secretary WFR in Worcester in October 2000 and became Regimental Secretary in August 2002. He was
heavily involved with planning the merger prior to 2007 and took on Officer Recruiting. He was the last Editor of Firm and Forest the WFR Journal and then took on the Mercian Eagle for its first three editions. He was also in post during the 1 WFR / 2 MERCIAN tours of Op Herrick 6 and 10, where he played a significant part in arranging funerals and care of the wounded.
Major Mike Green left in May to take up a new post in Germany. He began as a Assistant Regimental Secretary WFR in Worcester in March 2003 and then moved to the embryo Mercian Regimental
Headquarters in May 2006 and was also deeply involved in Mercian planning work. His main job was to run the Accounts and Welfare, but he actually did far more than that and took a prominent role in WFRA Reunion and general work. When the C2 post in Nottingham was gapped, Mike travelled hundreds of miles ensuring things were run to the standard expected.
We have also closed the Worcester Office and the related work was transferred to Nottingham, where the arrival Mrs Cindy Baines has proved a major step forward. In Lichfield
we welcome Lieutenant Colonel Bill Temminck and welcome back Ms Janice Hyde. Mr. Fred Fitzpatrick retired in October. There were no changes in Chester during the year.
Finally, throughout most of 2011 we had Captain Steve Ostle acting as 3 MERCIAN Rear Operations Group UK, working within the RHQ Lichfield building. This proved invaluable when dealing with casualties and at the end of their tour, Steve did a seamless handover to Captain John Pickering of 2 MERCIAN.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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