Page 68 - MERCIAN Eagle 2017

QM’s Department (Notes to the wise and hard of hearing)
Major (LE) J Clayton
2017-18 has been an extremely busy year for 2 MERCIAN QM’s Department. The G4 recovery from the VJTF mission generated significant activity with over 4000 items being reunited with their originating units complete to CES. Support to pre-deployment training on 3 operations, and the loss of some key G4 operators to
for training. The complexity of the
power pack and its reliability became a real conundrum. This became almost laughable when the question was asked about the vehicles continuous overheating problem. In essence, we had been driving through the wrong type of mud. With a couple of loan vehicles from the Royal
G4 earlier than expected (Bad Form). WO2 Catherwood is now the RQMS(T), and has full use of all his ‘fingers and toes’ for counting, shows no aspirations to depart early and appears happy in his world - which we like!
Congratulations to CSgt Roddis who has recently achieved a degree BSC (Hons) in Logistics with Lincoln University achieving a provisional Grade of 2:1. This is an amazing achievement in
itself, however when one considers the activity over the last year and his current appointment of G1098 Manager for the unit one can only imagine how much real work he has ‘chinned off’ and must now be done!
This piece on G4 would not be complete without some mention of Cpl’s Cadmore, Donohue and Varley, all of who have contributed uniquely to the QM’s Department over the past year or so. They remain some of the most unkempt, ill-disciplined, challenging, slightly grubby, confusing bunch of misfits ever to grace a QM’s Department in the British Army! Which is the exact reason why we love them all dearly, and know only too well that the battalion could not operate without each of them – Chaps, the QM salutes you all as you are the BEST G4 Heroes I could wish for!
OP SHADER has
reduced the G4
manning, but not
its output. A QM
driven root and
branch review of
the units, coupled
with conducting
G4 at a distance
over 3 continents, whilst maintaining a functioning home base has its challenges, but equally very rewarding.
2017 started at the relentless pace which the QM’s department had experienced throughout 2016. The VJTF fleet had to be handed back and dispersed throughout the UK, and in February, work began on the Equipment Entitlement re-write. With all this going on in the background, the Battalion
had started to ramp up training for OP SHADER and TRENTON.
The LAD having successfully kept over 300 vehicle platforms at readiness for VJTF, struggled to maintain 8 Foxhounds
Irish, the training continued and was successfully delivered.
Of note we experienced some appointment changes, namely; Unit QM’s changed from Maj Lincoln to Maj Clayton; and on the ‘Technical’
side Capt Clayton to Capt Travis. These appointment changes were swift and seamless, with all inaccuracies and deficiencies kept to a minimum. So much so, that the most diligent inspection team is unlikely to find any trace of error.
The QM’s department said farewell
to RQMS Kennedy on his appointment as RSM of the Battalion, he will be
sadly missed in G4. WO2 Jones took over RQMS(M) on completion of his instructional post RMA Sandhurst, he has quickly bedded into the role and conspired with ‘dark forces’ having been selected for an LE Commission. In essence, this means he will be escaping
‘In essence, we had been driving through the wrong type of mud’
66
HQ Company
OC HQ Company
Maj Denis Spoors
My tenure as OC started back in May 2017, and as I write this we are now some eight months on. As I scribe, I reflect on the reality of Battalion life and that is, for my first six months in tenure I have hardly seen my own company, this is due to my deployment as the Battlegroup Logistics Officer (BGLO) on OP SHADER 5 (Iraq). None the less,
all departments under the HQ structure have been working tirelessly to support Battalion activities and these have included the audit and inspection regimes, mission specific training for OP TRENTON (South Sudan), FIRIC (Falklands Islands) and OP SHADER (Iraq). We have also supported UK operations whilst concurrently providing individual personnel to fill numerous
trawls across the world. The geographic spread has seen the Coy send individuals
to Bahrain, Cyprus, Kenya and Belize to name a few, and this is an addition to the deployed soldier’s supporting the three main Operations conducted this year.
I am sure that as you peruse this edition of the MERCIAN EAGLE you will realise how frenetic the modern soldier’s life has become. Whilst Support Company exists to find and fix the enemy with intimate and integral fire support, allowing the fighting echelons to close with the enemy. It is HQ Companies job to support and sustain their actions, no easy task considering the varied
more mature and experienced soldier. This has ensured that all companies within the Battalion have been effectively supported and sustained whilst conducting their specified task.
There has been time for a selected few
to conduct both sporting and adventurous activities and these have ranged from Mountain Biking, Hill walking and latterly skiing on Ex FROSTED BLADE. All participants have made the most of the opportunities and returned having a positive experience. The future continues to be hectic, with the FOE quickly filling, with multiple tasking, but our main priority is the efficient preparation and execution of an Arms Plot move to Cyprus in Aug 2018: there is a lot of work to crunch through if we are to achieve our aim.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
complex requirements of each echelon. I have expected though, each and every soldier in HQ Company has acquitted themselves extremely well, maintaining their professionalism, sense of humour and distinct ethos you find in the slightly
As