Page 50 - The KRH Year of 2023 (CREST Sharing)

50 The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars
Adventurous training in 2023 took on a slightly different character than in previous years, most notably affected in the second half of the year by the unwelcome Army morato- rium on unit organised expeditions. This meant that from the Autumn onwards, no expeditions would be in receipt of pub- lic funding, as a cost saving measure. The fact that the money saved by this measure is very small in the broader scheme of Defence spending is not lost on anyone. Nevertheless, the Regiment seized all opportunities to get as many soldiers as possible to enjoy and benefit from what AT we could find. Early in the year Sgt Kingston put together a highly successful skiing expedition to Finland, to which troops deployed from Estonia. Soldiers achieved their foundation skiing qualifications, and the unfamiliar environment added interest and challenge to the expedition. Later in the year, just after Ex IRON CYCLONE, Lt Susy Watts took members of her Recce Troop to Italy for Ex SCORPION AVVENTURA, which will be the subject of its own article in this year’s journal. Lt Josh Allen worked hard to put together Ex BAVARIAN HAWK which would have taken 60 soldiers to Germany to take part in Klettersteig, Kayaking, and Mountain Biking, but despite his Herculean efforts the expedition was unable to go ahead due to a lack of instruc- tors. However his endeavours hopefully will not be wasted, as we look forward to enacting the delayed plan next year. While not strictly speaking AT, Lt David Palmer took two crews to the Combat Arms Sailing Regatta at the Seaview Yacht Club on the Isle of Wight in the late summer. This annual event is a privilege to take part in, racing the Club’s fleet of beautiful Mermaid keelboats in the Solent. LCpl Allison skippered one of the boats, and won the RAC Yacht Club Gold Cup for the most successful serving RAC/HCav crew at the Regatta. This was presented by Lt Col Will Hodgkinson KRH in his capacity as Commodore of the RACYC. Lt Alex Rothwell put together a week at the Army Inshore Sailing Centre at Thorney Island, taking advantage the excellent instructors and facilities there for soldiers to learn dinghy sailing, paddleboarding, wind- surfing and ‘winging’ (which is a bit like a cross between kite- surfing and windsurfing, and appears to be all the rage!). If skimming along in the sunshine accompanied by the bobbing heads of curious seals was not the highlight, then certainly watching Capt Baines in full ‘angry-pepperami mode’ get cata- pulted out of his dinghy into the murky low-tide waters was. After summer leave, the Regiment was able to secure nearly two hundred places on a plethora of different AT courses run by Adventurous Training Group; this exploited the loophole that while unit-run expeds were no longer funded, the ATG- run courses were going ahead. Among a wide range of activi- ties, soldiers from the Regiment and Attached Arms went
Glacier racing in the Solent
mountain biking in the Harz mountains in Germany, caving in Brecon, mountaineering in Inverness (for a course entitled ‘summer mountaineering’, a surprising amount of time was spent in waist-deep snow!), and parachuting in Netheravon. One Trooper achieved what must be a very rare feat: not only had he never been in an aeroplane before, but the first time he went in one, he jumped out of it. If that isn’t what AT is all about, I don’t know what is.
Plans for AT and challenging pursuits are afoot for 2024, so watch this space. 2Lt Flick Challinor aims to complete the English Channel Relay Swim with a Regimental team in the summer, which is a fantastic (surely once in a lifetime) oppor- tunity for our soldiers. Later in the year Lt Josh Allen will take a team to compete in the Leptos Cyprus International 4-Day Challenge, a prestigious trail and cross-country running event. We will continue to grasp every chance to expose our people to the spectacular opportunities for personal and leadership development which AT in the Army offers, and long may that continue. We are very fortunate to receive assistance from the Association and Trustees in supporting many of these activi- ties, and the resulting benefit to the serving Regiment is dem- onstrated by the quality it engenders in our people. I may close with a final plug that as public purse-strings tighten, all avenues to get AT off the ground will be explored, including sponsorship – your generosity may help a KRH soldier to push past limits they never thought they could surpass.
THP
Regimental AT Foreword
LCpl Allison receives a trophy
from Lt Col Hodgkinson KRH, Commodore of the RAC Yacht Club
This biking lark is buckshee