Page 105 - The Light Dragoon 2024

learned his craft of commanding, directing, navigation and when to or when not to give the order to shoot.
When Cossie returned from Afghanistan, he was posted to Bovington as a PH2 instructor for 12 months. During his time here, the then Adj (CS) and SSM (Chin) of RACTR, helped him to gain a slot on the D&M Cadre which, again, he breezed and was a schools’ D&M instructor from 2011-2013, this is where he promoted to Sgt.
Cossie went back to RD and went straight into C Sqn as 1st Troop Sgt and subse- quently went to BATUS and ate chips and curled 50 Cal barrels on the prairie and got a crap tattoo to pass the time!
Cossie also had a couple of buckshee jobs, firstly as the Sheriff and then the accom- modation SNCO which also saw the Regiment go through another unit move, this time to Catterick. At this point, Cossie was an absolute fitness machine, and even dubbed the fittest Warrant Officer the Light Dragoons had ever seen!
Cossie boomeranged back to Bovington as a school’s instructor and whilst there, promoted to SSgt and was the Recce
Charlie Rotherham waltzed into the anteroom at coffee to announce the impending arrival of a 2LT Harle, an
ex-ranker.... ‘Guys, no, no, guys, I met him for a drink, and he was wearing red trousers – top bloke’. And so, several weeks later Jamie arrived and was assigned to the Empire under Olly King. Jamie’s route to market, so to speak, was not well trodden. We have always prided ourselves on our broad church within the Light Dragoons’ Mess, (taking officers from Exeter and Edinburgh University, not just Newcastle), but Jamie’s heritage certainly managed to stretch the cohort beyond Cirencester Agriculture College and Durham. With stories from his days spent piloting Boeing 747s across the US for FEDEX, Jamie added a brilliantly rich seam to the tapestry of the Mess. Quickly earning his stripes in A Sqn alongside messers Dodington, Paske, Pike and Tod, he reinforced the play hard, work hard ethos espoused by the then Emperor OGHK. As now, a relentless forecast of events saw the Regiment tackle WESSEX STORMS, equipment inspections and arduous individual and collective training events culminating in Op HERRICK 16.
Jamie completed his tour alongside Sgt Bowman and 2nd Troop, before returning from Afghanistan where he was assigned to the Regimental Signals Officer Course in Bovington to receive remedial training in looking after radios properly!
group 2IC. He was the point of contact for all things fitness and organised cross- country races, army cycling race meetings at ARMCEN, and took the lead of the RAC cycling team which included admin instructions, organising transport, accom- modation and feeding for external races.
Cossie won the RAC Triathlon 3 times off the bounce, he was RAC Duathlon Champion, RAC Team Time Trial Winner, RAC Team Cross Country Winner, UK North Wattbike Champion and even came second in Ironman Exmoor as part of a relay team. Additionally, he completed the Marathon des Sables. Twice. It appears he likes the suffering! He also competed in the Cape Town Cycle Tour, finishing in the top 10% and attended a mountaineering expedition to Mera Peak in Nepal.
Cossie returned to RD in 2019 and was placed in the training wing as the RDMI, a job in which he excelled. He was instru- mental in ensuring that the ROTO 1 task group to MALI were all qualified in anything regarding vehicles, this included RODET training and UOR platforms. This was done single handedly, and during the constraints of COVID-19. Due to his hard work, diligence, and ‘can do’ attitude his 2
Major Jamie Harle
Back to work, Jamie found his calling at Regimental Duty making a fantastic RSO (and doubling up as the Operations Officer ‘B’). More time spent in RHQ allowed Jamie to help the then Adjt (Charlie Dunn), removing the burden of ‘accoutre- ments officer’ from his desk. This respon- sibility Jamie took very seriously indeed. It also permitted Jamie to display one of his many hidden talents... sewing. A master- seamster, he knocked out Regimental barathea-clad notebooks for anyone inter- ested in covering their issue notebook or diary in old mess dress trousers. Jamie’s time at RD came to an end with a posting to London District followed by promotion to Major and this was the last the Regiment properly saw of him. Jamie spent the next few years in sunnier climes, trading Catterick for Quetta at Pakistani Staff College, followed by a very tough job on the Army Staff London which Jamie managed to make look not so tough, spending most of the two years abroad ‘organising staff talks’. Many a friend could be forgiven for hitting the ‘de-friend’ button on various social networks after he hit the half- century mark of sunset cocktail pictures ‘at work’. It was during this time, while actually in London and not in Heathrow Terminal 5 that Jamie was ‘papped’ (see photo above) by someone outside the MOD on his way to Horse Guards. Jamie, Barrack dress-clad, gave a wistful smile and the photo somehow made its way onto ‘Fill
years in the training wing was a success and consequently, Cossie promoted to WO2 and was selected to be A Sqn Sergeant Major, a privileged job in the finest cavalry regiment in the army. He was SSM for 18 months until he was nominated as the CSM of Kifaru Barracks in Nairobi, Kenya. Here he ensured that all transiting battle- groups were looked after properly when arriving and departing the country. This was to be his last job in the Army.
During a 24-year career in The Light Dragoons, WO2 Matt Costello has trans- formed from a skinny council estate kid to an established soldier. He has been provided with opportunities to test himself physi- cally and mentally through both his service and physical endurance activities. He has met a lot of people along the way, some of which have become lifelong friends.
Cossie met Jen in 2011 and married in 2015. She has been his rock since meeting and throughout his continued time in the Army, holding the fort. She too, can now stand down. We wish Matt and Jen all the best for the future.
Viret in aeternum. Merebimur.
Your Boots’. Against all odds, the tagline, was ‘NATO’s best dressed officer’. History will never relate as to whether Alfie Usher received a bribe or not. Jamie chose to see-out his career at Sandhurst, a befitting end to the organisation that had commis- sioned him. With a growing family based around London, Jamie opted to draw stumps and retake to the skies. We wish him all the very best and thank him for his wickedly dry wit, many stories, and the time he gave both the Regiment and the British Army.
EJQ
The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
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