Page 27 - MERCIAN Eagle 2017

Catering Department
It has been a busy 12 month period for the Catering department which has also seen a change in the two SNCOs’, with the departures of Sgt Guthrie and Sgt Thompson who have been instrumental in the department, we wish them both all the best.
Immediately arriving back into work in Jan 17, the RCWO and her team deployed to Sennelager, Germany as RLS for EX SPECULAR in support of 3(UK) DIV. This was a great opportunity for the new QM to meet and see his Catering department at their best, feeding up to 800 personnel.
April saw Sgt Thompson and a few members of the department deploy to BATUS in support of the Battalions role as OPFOR providing catering support in Camp Crowfoot as well has producing excellent meals on Maint days. It also saw individuals deploy to BATUS as part of the Temporary staff. The remainder of the department remained back in Bulford supporting the ROG and also provided a chef to support
C Company in London on Public Duties.
RCWO WO2 RJ Docherty
In the latter part of the year the Catering Department was spread widely supporting various SSET taskings whilst still maintaining catering support in the Homebase. It also saw the RCWO and two chefs deploy on
Ex CULINARY RESILLIENCE, which was a short notice deployment to test the ability of the department in deploying in less than 48hrs.
The department has had some successful results on promotion boards in 2017 which has seen, Pte Nock promoted to LCpl, Cpl Jaiteh and McMunn promoted to Sgt and in December the RCWO was selected for promotion to WO1. A great achievement for all.
2018 has started with LCpl Walker deploying to the Falklands and Pte Barnett deploying to Cyprus in support of the KDTT PJNCO Cadre. The department now prepares for Ex URBAN DAWN 1 in February.
1 MERCIAN’s chefs deliver enough delicious meal to the soldiers
Quartermasters’ Department
Over the last twelve months the Quartermasters’ department has seen a significant amount of change. Changeover of personnel in key appointments, the
roles of QM (T), both RQMS’s, G1098 SNCO, UAA, USA SNCO, and JAMES operator have all changed due to postings or promotions. The new team members quickly grasped the forecast of events and prepared themselves for the fast tempo and various commitments the battalion was about to embark on.
Immediately arriving back into work in Jan 17, the QM, RQMS (M) and a small team deployed to Sennelager, Germany
as RLS for EX SPECULAR whilst 3(UK)
DIV conducted large planning exercises. This certainly set up the new RQMS M
for success in his new role as he lived
and breathed G4 for the month. It was also a great opportunity for team bonding with plenty of fitness despite the freezing conditions. It was not all work and no play and the deployment presented opportunity for those who had not been there before
to enjoy the German culture and see some local historic sights of interest.
Once the whole team was back, the main focus of the first part of the year was the preparation for deployment to BATUS as OPFOR and preparing C Company
for Public Duties. Once again, the QM’s Department were split in half for Ex Prairie Storm 1 and 2 under the QM (T); the team arrived just after Easter to a cold and snowy climate that consisted of the RQMS (T), UAA, USA SNCO, USA JNCO, Ammunition NCO, and the Accommodation Store
man. The exercise started off slowly before ramping up into full speed as more of the vehicles were received and preparations began for the first exercise.
Once PS1 started the demand for the vehicle parts increased as more casualty vehicles arrived back to camp crowfoot for essential repairs. Upon completion of PS1 the QM (T), USA SNCO, and the USA NCO said farewell to the team in BATUS and were then to return back to the UK for role changes, promotions, and postings. Prior
to PS2 we welcomed into the department Capt Mears as the new QM (T), LCpl Tavutonivalu as the USA JNCO, and Pte Thiga as the expense storeman. PS2 turned out to be just as busy as the first run out with the new QM (T) Capt Rob Mears keen to get stuck in and his hands dirty with the RQMS (T) by assisting with the servicing and maintenance of some of the casualty vehicles to ensure that the equipment availability remained high.
The other half of the department remained back in the UK and formed up
as part of the ROG and G4 support for
C Company as they assumed the role of the public duties in London. The team consisted of the QM (M) Maj Mick Whillock who was also OC ROG, the RQMS (M),
the G1098 SNCO, the Accommodation NCO, the JAMES operator, and the clothing NCO. During this period CSgt Lambert was posted to Harrogate as a CQMS and
a newly promoted CSgt Bartlett assumed the role as the G1098 SNCO. LCpl Murray also assumed the role as the JAMES operator during this period. This remained
a very busy time during ROG as the QMs dealt with a multitude of tasks from 1X and especially when called upon for OP TEMPERER.
ROG were tested on a call out exercise where teams were ready to deploy on
short notice for a period of time. This was executed by individuals thinking on their feet and ensuring weapons, ammunition, rations & equipment were in the location of the Assembly Area with the minimum of fuss.
Upon completion of the OPFOR deployment to BATUS the sun tanned team returned back to the UK and the department re-formed back up to receive the freight before going onto a well- deserved summer leave.
Once summer leave was over the next focus for the department was to support the upcoming live range firing package that took place at Castlemartin in Wales, this consisted of a four week package before returning back to camp in preparation
for each companies individual exercises. Once this phase was complete is was then the time to start preparing to support the battalion for the upcoming Sustainable Support to Experimentation anf Training (SSET) tasks and exercises that the battalion were fulfilling.
LCpl Tavutonivalu was selected to represent the Army by being part of the female rugby team that toured and played
QM Maj M Whillock QM (T) Capt R Mears RQMS (M) WOII R Muir RQMS (T) WOII A Hill
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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