Page 10 - 1RHA 2023

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
A GPMG Range Day as part of the Battery’s Pre-Deployment Training (PDT)
March also brought with it confirmation that we would indeed be giving our AS90 guns to the Ukrainians in the next tranche of the Granting In Kind (GIK) effort. Work had been ongoing in the months prior in anticipation of such an order, but with confirmation and a timeline, all effort now shifted to getting the guns in as good a state as physically possible for the Ukrainians who would come to depend upon them. With the required parts a priority all those in the gun garages worked hard to get them off ahead of schedule and in a good state. Their departure marked a big moment for B Battery, since we are now without guns at home. We are though, fortunate to be able to train on AS90 in Germany and having them out in Estonia for the coming year, and as such we shall remain current and trained in armoured warfighting, putting us in a good position for when we take over our future platforms.
By far the largest exercise that B Battery has conducted in the past year was Exercise CABRIT TEMPEST on Sennelager Training Area, Germany. Alongside the rest of the 1RRF Battle Group, B Battery deployed in April, taking over our part of the Land Readiness Fleet. The initial two weeks were spent working on the vehicles, in an effort to get as many as possible fully functioning for the beginning of the exercise. Given a number of constraints, not least the avail- ability of replacement parts, this was an immense challenge, but one to which every member of the Battery worked hard to achieve. Ultimately the vehicles continued to challenge us throughout our time there, but special thanks must go to our REME Fitter Sec- tion who kept us mobile. The exercise itself consisted of a week of training as a Gun Group and FSTs, before during the second week the Battle Group came together to conduct a number of missions and scenarios in a warfighting context. This was of huge value to the Battery, since this was the first opportunity to train as a fully
C Sub AS90 camouflaged and ready to move into its hide on Ex CABRIT TEMPEST
resourced gun battery with a peer threat for years, leading to a great deal of experimentation and knowledge gained.
The culmination of this exercise was a bittersweet moment, since it had by that point been recently confirmed that the remaining AS90 guns in Germany, including those we were using, would be sent to Ukraine in a second round of the GIK process. As such B Battery marked their final exercise in Germany on the AS90 platform with a photo in front of the windmill at Sennelager. Immediately afterwards a group led by the BK Captain Burnett headed North to Grafenwöhr to work on the other guns stored in the country for the next four weeks. Those not on this second round of GIK completed the closedown and were back in the UK at the start of June for a week of leave. The following month was focussed upon courses and getting people prepared and quali- fied for Op CABRIT 13, with most of the Battery going on leave in August in preparation for heading out come September.
As we look forwards to what the next year will bring, I write as the Battery is in the process of deploying to Tapa, Estonia, with El Tamar Troop due to return in March after a six-month deploy- ment. The Gun Group however will remain until June, covering nine months across two Battle Groups, the initial six with 1RRF, fol- lowed by three with 5 RIFLES and the Tac Group from The Chest- nut Troop. The deployment will no doubt bring its fair share of challenges, not least the weather, but it is something for which we have prepared, and we will seek to draw on the lessons learnt from Battle Groups past as E Battery hand the mantle over to ourselves. In the immediate future we have Exercise BOLD FUSILIER, and a number of smaller scale exercises including the Cold Weather Operators Course until Exercise WINTER CAMP early next year.
The Gun Group of B Battery after what is likely to be the final exercise with AS90 guns by the British Army in Germany
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