Page 45 - QDG Year of 2020

The first battlegroup exercise since 2013 was always going to be a steep learning curve but, as ever, the QDG Battlegroup pulled out the stops and on Salisbury Plain in February gave the enemy a notably bloody nose, achieving validation at the first opportunity.
We managed to deploy three squad- rons, BGHQ and two echelons with B Echelon holding the fort in Westdown Camp. The scale of the exercise was unprecedented with 2,000 troops on Salisbury Plain, three battlegroups being validated and Brigade HQ
getting a runout, albeit from the comfort of Westdown Camp.
After a cheery welcome to Westdown Camp from the QM Capt Homewood and his B Echelon team, the training progression kicked off with an excellent range package run by Sgt Maj Beal.
After Mr Griffiths got back
into his natural role as TES
LO with his sidekick Cpl Cullen, the Sqns were tested on Battle Exercises, which included a raid on Keevil Airfield, allowing
Sqns to push the boundaries and rehearse their integrated mounted and dismounted assaults. The battle exer-
cises provided a lot of training value, especially after months of being unable to train with Jackals.
BFAs ruin photos
Maj Ruggles-Brise had managed to procure an abundance of equipment from industry including sights and ground sensors that enabled troops to site obser- vation posts up to 2 km off the target.
The combined arms live fire exercise (CALFEX), although not really combined
1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
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The battle exercises provided a lot of training value
Where did I leave that Jackal?
Cold hands warm hearts
Non-Tac use a track