Page 52 - QDG Volume 9 No. 2 2021

50
1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
Not B Sqn... 99% need not apply
Do I look ally?
Ex RATTLESNAKE Louisiana, USA
In March 2021, whilst preparing for mounted operations in the Sahel later in the year, A Squadron were sent to the swamps of Louisiana
training, including tracking and obser- vation training from those who recently qualified from the Operational Tracking
and the 30mm cannon, followed up by targets firing flares and having explosions back at us as the Squadron advanced through the positions. You will be no doubt pleased to hear that we won.
Once into the exercise proper, the Sabre Troops of A Squadron spent a lot of time walking around the woods with our lives on our backs, and the Squadron HQ filled their hours fending off enemy attacks and in most cases singlehand- edly saving the BGHQ, until the OC got killed. SHQ, as a matter of fact, ‘killed’ the highest number of the enemy, and apart from the OC were mostly unscathed! Thank goodness it was blank fire.
Overall, the ground was undulating with the density of woodblocks varying with the distance to streams. Around the water features, the ground was exces- sively boggy, and the vegetation thick enough to halt almost all advance. It meant that we spent a lot of time mean- dering through the woods and trying to cross larger features along fallen trees. Throughout our entire time there we were
to partake in a dismounted exercise in the same training area used by the US Army for pre-deployment training to Vietnam, no foreshad- owing intended.
the entire Squadron and attachments were crammed into a large hangar with only cupboards for internal partitions
Instructors Course in Brunei. By the time we were out of isolation, A Squadron was well drilled and ready for the live fire package.
Lt Felix Holland started off this Live Fire Tactical Training taking us up to Section by night. Having recently returned from Cyprus, most of the Squadron had already completed this. After that, we were able to taste the fruits of a large defence budget, as the Squadron went into the US led Live Fire Exercise. It started off with the entire Squadron being dropped off in one go by a fleet of Blackhawks. After
On arrival, the entire
Squadron and attachments
were crammed into a large
hangar with only cupboards
for internal partitions and
fold out cot-beds. Break-
fast was usually a ‘grits’ or
a sugary cereal with seem-
ingly sugar-enhanced milk,
on some days we were
even gifted salty breaded
chicken in a sweet waffle
bun! We all thought that
they shouldn’t have gone to
such a delicacy. Throughout our isola- tion we ran some low-level soldiering
the effort of
we had reconnoitred for the rest of the Battle Group, the targets were softened by an Apache gunship firing live missiles