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1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
Honorary Colonel’s Foreword Major General Jez Bennett CBE
The war in Ukraine will once again remain at the forefront of our thoughts this year. Partly of course because of our series of battery deployments to Estonia on Op CABRIT, and partly due to the gifting of our beloved AS90 to the Ukrain- ians.
Inevitably as Gunners we get attached to our Guns - not least as they are our Colours; the very symbol of what we fight for. But also because of our intimate relationship with them; whether it’s being up to your elbows in engine fluids as part of the LAD, humping and sorting endless pallets of ammunition, battling the automatic loading system as part of a Gun Crew, watching the ‘Nasties’ deploy in the gloom of last light into a new gun position, feeling the blast of a ‘fire for effect’ from within the command post, or seeing the sky light up before experiencing the ‘crump’ of airburst rounds from an OP.
And of course most of these experiences are true whichever Guns you serve with. But AS90 felt - feels - special. The first to have a burst fire capability, to be capable of self deploying and to fire off data from the line of march. And now all these capabilities are proving essential both to survival and to battlefield success in Ukraine - as we knew they would.
And of course the benefit to us of gifting our guns - which let’s face it aren’t without their problems either - is in forcing ‘the sys- tem’ to replace them. Although very different, Archer will deliver a punch at greater range, with less mechanical complexity, while remaining tactically mobile and able to self deploy over long dis- tances. It too is not without its issues, but no system is perfect.
And this of course is where the value of our people will make all the difference. It’s always been the case that what matters most is how you adapt the capability you have to the fight you are in. To do this requires clever, innovative and well trained soldiers, and so is an area where the British Army and the Gunners in particu-
lar continue to excel. And also where as the First Regiment - in every sense - we continue rightly to pride ourselves on leading both the thinking and the execution.
And so we can justify continuing to feel confident as we look at the future with a healthy mix of cautious excitement. And although - as with AS90 - we will deeply miss Queen Elizabeth, we can be hugely proud to serve within the wider Gunner family under the leadership of our new Captain General, one who also understands soldiers and soldiering, and who cherishes both the tradition and innovation we strive to live by.
So let me use the very same words General Neil left us with as he finished his excellent tenure as Hon Col, and as I begin mine with pride at coming back into ‘our regiment’ with a commitment to serve you all:
God Save the King!
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