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Regimental Journal 2018-20
210th (Staffordshire) Battery
Foreword
By Maj Mark Greenhalgh RA
Everyone says that the pace of life at Regimental duty is unprec- edented, but coming from a busy PSAOs job in November 2019, I struggled to believe that I was about to be as busy as I already was. That was my first mistake. My second was to believe that it would just take a bit of good planning and calm leadership (which clearly, I was going to provide) to bring some order to the busy pace of life within 210 Battery.
Saying farewell to the Air Defence world in 2014 was hard for some, especially those who were accustomed to that way of life but for others, the lure of a fresh challenge and the chance to live fire on a more frequent basis was always hugely tempting. The move over to Close Support Artillery was not without its problems, and we remained in the “settling in” phase for several years but on balance it has been far more positive
for most than was expected.
As I write, we are amid a COVID-19 pandemic
whilst trying to continue some normality with weekly training. Training virtually is the new normal now but that has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Battery to attend training events when required. My own frustrations at not being able to continue the in-barracks PT routine have had to be put aside. Some are very grateful...
Training virtually is the new normal now but that has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Battery
training events such as Career Courses, SDC driver conversion and ADE; a valuable contribu- tion to the Regiment.
Although unmentioned the focus has clearly
been on preparing the Battery to deploy in role
with the L118 Light Gun and with new procedural
changes to learn on the Gun Line and within
the Command Post the Battery has met these challenges with success. 210 Battery has taken the lead on many Regimental
This article represents the natural evolution of a Battery and keeps the personnel fresh, the ideas new, the experiences varied and the Staffordshire Gunners
lifeblood flowing with vigour and passion.
South Africa Military Skills Competition By Bdr Burton
Every year, the South African National Defence Force hosts a military skills competition. Last year I was one of the lucky ones chosen to take part because of my involvement with the Cambrian Patrol training. Joining me from 103 Regt were Sergeant Dorner (PSI 216 Bty), Sergeant Woods (216 Bty) and Gunner Parry (209 Bty). The competition is held to foster interaction between competing nations and to promote better military skills and fitness amongst its compet- itors. There were around 250 competi- tors from the following countries: South Africa (as the hosts), USA, Democratic Republic of Congo, UK, Kenya and Germany.
We travelled from Heathrow on October 18th to Johannesburg, and from there over land to Potchefstroom, where the event was held. This town hosts their
School of Artillery as well as some Intel- ligence and Mechanised Infantry units. This is a small University town, and we were billeted in the campus
(FN-FAL) Battle Rifle with iron sights, firing standard NATO 5.56mm rounds, on a 400m range. I found this a tricky
halls of residence, the meals being provided by the South African Army. The hosts welcomed us, and all the other nations, with a formal parade.
The competition consisted of 5 events over 4 days. The first of which was on the ranges, pistol and rifle shooting, using their standard issue equipment.
The competition is held to foster interaction between competing nations and to promote better military skills and fitness
weapon to use, especially with the iron sights, but I still managed to score some points. As we all know, there is a lot of down time on the ranges, and this offered a great oppor- tunity to get to know the other soldiers there. We were joined by soldiers and airmen from the New York Army National Guard and it was great to exchange experiences of Afghanistan with them.
For the pistol shoot, the
weapon was a Vektor Z88,
which is a license-built Beretta 92F, firing 19 × 9mm Parabellum rounds on a 25m range. The rifle was the R1
Next was the water assault course, which was a series of obstacles across a 25m swimming pool. Although very
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