Page 58 - QDG Volume 9 No. 2 2021

56 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
See, I told you 220 was out here
Guard mount The Volleyboys
The Gambia STTT
In October Lt Upward was lucky enough to be selected to join a pan-army Short Term Training Team deployed to The Gambia to teach the skills and drills of reconnaissance to the Gambian Armed Forces. Surrounded to north, east and south by the Francophone Senegal, The Gambia is an oasis of English speaking peoples which helped Lt Upward blend seamlessly into local life.
Deploying as part of the 1RIFLES-led STTT Lt Upward was SME and lead instructor for Intelligence, Surveil- lance and Reconnaissance. Alongside him was a 2Lt from 2 Royal Anglian, a Sgt from the Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment and a LCpl from the Intel- ligence Corps. The GAF were easy to work with and maintained a heedy
professionalism, honed since the 1970s by gener- ations of Gambian and British instructors alike, throughout. With one eye on next year’s deploy- ment to the Central African Republic, the 11-pax STTT had a wide array of skills to teach - anti-tanks, snipers, mortars, fire support, artil- lery, and reconnaissance were all included. Despite initial incredulity by the Gambians that a 6’3” borderline albino could teach them anything about being sneaky, Lt Upward eventually was able to
Lt Upward eventually was able to impart the same knowledge and doctrine that the QDG prides itself on perfecting
impart the same knowledge and doctrine that the QDG prides itself on perfecting.
By the end of the course it was felt that the GAF were ready to advance to more complex PDT ahead of their deployment. The skills and drills learned will be built upon by a second QDG STTT to deploy to The Gambia in Q2 2022. They were not, however, the only ones to learn something and Lt Upward came away a better soldier (with a nicer tan) from the experience.