Page 13 - The KRH Year of 2023 (CREST Sharing)

The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars 13
The Sqn in CMR on Ex IRON CYCLONE
a four week range package. In true Cavalry tradition C Sqn worked hard (100% first time pass rate on ACT and ATA) and enjoyed all that south-west Wales had to offer. Fantastic efforts from Sgt Bulbeck and Cpl Horley during the days allowed SSgt McDonald to sell the usual products in the Sqn bar in the eve- nings. As expected Tp Sgts filled their vehicles with the best gunners from each Tp and Sgt McCormick with Tpr Dudley took Top Gun across the BG’s range package. Most notable was the ease in which SSgt McDonald slipped into the role of the Sqn chef, a missed career opportunity in the RLC possibly.
Ranges ended in glorious sunshine and the hope was for this to continue for the four-week exercise phase on SPTA, unfortu- nately it was not our luck and July turned out to be the wettest month of 2023. Between wringing out clothing and hiding on the back decks of the CR2 to dry out, the Sqn performed excel- lently across the exercise, despite Lt Brown’s efforts to flatten a Recce Warrior. The exercise ended in a heavily contested force-on-force between C Sqn and A Sqn + A Coy 1 MERCIAN, despite the best efforts of Major Wade to get C Sqn all killed we made it to the river and successfully crossed 1% of our combat power—some may have even viewed it as a victory...
The exercise provided a welcome return to armoured training and allowed for an opportunity for officers and soldiers alike to demonstrate their tactical and armoured abilities. Sgt Taylor thoroughly enjoyed hunting the rogue CRARRV throughout the nights only to find that Cpl Winqvist was using the age- old method of navigating by the stars to get around the area. However, it was the Benny Hill routine of Cpl Ashfield and Lt Allen, as they took it in turns to get stuck in the same tank ditch (very much marked) again and again that ensured morale remained high on the long wet July nights.
Returning from leave in September the Sqn entered the feted ‘summer of love’, albeit in the autumn. Lt Brannigan ran a regimental Battlefield Study to Germany, tracing the Russian 1945 advance into Berlin; even with support from Major Wade
Sgt Bulbeck trying to find Maj Wade’s multiple lost thermos flasks
and WO2 Thorpe her efforts to prevent anarchy in Berlin were unsuccessful. Lt Col Sticky Whitchurch was an excellent guide and managed to enthuse a number of the sleep deprived JNCOs throughout the trip, with the coach on-board bathroom deteriorating rapidly as the week progressed. The period was very much required, post a six month tour and a two month exercise in 10 months, the Sqn was ready for a welcome break from soldiering, and multiple members of the Sqn deployed on AT trips including sailing, hill walking, mountain biking and climbing.
The year drew to a close with C Sqn taking part in Ex COBURG CHARGE, a two week exercise; the exercise started with a read- iness preparation exercise within camp followed by a week of dismounted live firing and sim-munition training in Caerwent Training Area. The dismounted exercise was excellently run by the new Sqn 2ic, Capt Cameron Oldroyd, and the SQMS, SSgt McDonald; it involved force-on-force, house clearance, night raids, and concluded with a Sqn dawn raid. Luckily for Sgt McCormick his birthday gave the SQMS a good excuse to use him as a hostage on a force-on-force serial—the term ‘hostage’ soon changed to ‘active combatant’ to ensure he walked away fully appreciating the feeling of being shot with sim-munition.
All in all, it has been a challenging and fulfilling year for C Sqn, multiple new faces, operations, numerous exercises, AT, battlefield studies, and plenty of career courses sets the Sqn up for success in 2024. We bid farewell to several key personali- ties: WO2 Thorpe departs for Bovington to take over as RSM AFVSR on a richly deserved promotion to WO1, SSgt McKay moves to be the Regimental Fleet Manager in order to further cook the books for C Sqn, and Capt Kendall leaves the Army for a civilian career in JP Morgan. 2024 looks to have all the opportunities a Cavalry soldier in the Senior Sqn could wish for—I am sure we can squeeze an armoured charge into our validation exercise at some point.
WPGW