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www.raptcassociation.org.uk
The last 12 months at Army Headquarters (AHQ) has flown by, through a combination of a heavy workload, family commitments and endeavours within Army/UKAF Weightlifting.
I have been employed in the Training Development Team (TDT) within Pers Pol, as the lead with Substance Misuse education. This is a new role that has been created to improve the education and resources available to our Soldiers and Officers, with an overall aim of reducing involuntary outflow from the Army due to a positive Compulsory Drugs Test (CDT). The role is both interesting and demanding, with many roles within the team and wider AHQ gapped.
I have been blessed to have worked in a great environment and the TDT team, in particular, have been a great source of knowledge and guidance particularly through the challenges of procurement and working with Army Commercial. As I write this article, we are close to launching a rejuvenated and fit for purpose training package and Train the Trainer course, which will be rolled out as part of the new iteration of Basic Training.
SUBSTANCE MISUSE (SM)
WO2 (QMSI) C Williams RAPTC Substance Misuse Training Analyst
Along with the substance misuse education role, I have been continuing to work alongside the Army Sports Control Board (ASCB) with delivering UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) sessions to serving personnel on the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) programme. I have been a volunteer Educator for UKAD for the last 8 years and have been allowed by my chain of command to continue to develop this capability to assist education strategies across the Military.
On the sporting front, I have continued to coach and support the development of weightlifting within both the Army and UKAF. The sport has seen huge growth in the last 5 years and the RAPTC is rightly leading the development of the sport, with athletes, coaches, and support staff being key to our current and future success.
Due to the ongoing positive relationship, between Army Weightlifting and British Weightlifting, we were invited to provide a team of loaders selected from across UKAF Weightlifting. Sgt (SI) Stu King was OIC of the loading teams and did a fantastic job in ensuring we were well drilled, and the teams drew plaudits from across the Weightlifting community
WO2 (QMSI) Chris Williams with World Para Powerlifting Officials at CWGs
across the World. As well as being a loader for the Weightlifting, I was selected by World Para Powerlifting to be a Technical Official for the Para Powerlifting and again this was an amazing experience. Being present as ex Sapper Mickey Yule won a Silver Medal for Scotland, was truly an unbelievable experience.
I will shortly be leaving AHQ and moving as the SWOPD at 11 Brigade in Aldershot. I have had a fantastic time at Pers Pol and have been blessed to work with close friends and trusted colleagues from the RAPTC. AHQ is a dynamic, fast moving, and engaging environment to work in and has been a great experience.
RAPTCIs with Capt (Retd) Ray Williams at CWGs.