Page 46 - 103RA 2018-20

103 Regiment Royal Artillery
103 Regiment Royal Artillery
Command Post Officer’s
Course 2020
By 2Lt Luke Willers RA
The Command Post Officer’s (CPO) course is not an easy one. Nor should it be. The coordination of sending high explosive rounds to shatter the earth up to 17km away in a matter of seconds is not a job to be taken lightly. The role requires great concentration, communica- tion and above all else, a cool head. Over the course of seven weekends, Second Lieutenant Beales (216 Battery), Lord (210 Battery) and Willers (210 Battery) set out to learn the language of fire control.
The course was run entirely by reserv- ists within the Regiment. The course staff consisted of 216 Battery’s Staff Sergeant Aitchison as well as 210 Battery’s Captain Crisp (Course Officer) and Bombardier Silverwood. With a combined 29 years of experience working in the Command Post, who better to train the next generation of CPOs in 103 Regiment RA?
Before undertaking the CPO course,
it was also an excellent opportunity to get to know the new Gunners in the Battery. Gunners Passmore, Stamp and Williams also completed the ‘comms’ course as a prerequisite to their Level 2 Strike qualification in order to work within the gun detachments.
Great commitment was shown by students and staff alike as they worked hard over the Christmas break - the course even ran during the day of the Battery Christmas party!
The students and instructors of the Command Post Officer course. From left to right: Second Lieutenant Willers, Second Lieutenant Lord, Second Lieutenant Beales, Bombardier Silverwood, Captain Crisp and Staff Sergeant Aitchison.
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all students must have
completed the RA
Communicator Part One
course. This was not a
problem for Second Lieu-
tenant Beales who already
had the qualification from
his time as a soldier in the
Regiment. Second Lieu-
tenants Lord and Willers
completed the prerequisite
during several weekends
in December 2019. Great
commitment was shown
by students and staff alike
as they worked hard over
the Christmas break - the
course even ran during
the day of the Battery
Christmas party! Not only did this course night. A well-needed sleep and hot
teach key skills in the use and mainte- nance of communications equipment,
breakfast preceded a full day of lessons. The course covers a huge spectrum:
The majority of the CPO course was conducted at Swynnerton Training Camp. With little time to waste lessons got underway on Friday evening and typically continued until late at