Page 88 - MERCIAN Eagle 2015

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D (Dragon) Company
Lt Jones
D (Dragon) Company has had a varying and challenging year in 2015. The recent amalgamation of both the two company locations - Crewe that had previously
been manned with members of the Cheshire Regiment and where company HQ is based- with Stoke-on-Trent, which had previously held members of the Staffordshire Regiment, has placed a large logistical and planning burden upon the company. It has been, and is still, in the process of transitioning equipment and resources. Fortunately the movement of
all manning has now been completed with all members of the company embracing a truly Mercian sense of identity and purpose between one another.
nature, a somewhat different exercise to what they had been come accustomed. Dragon Company left behind their Rifles and Jetboils to trade them in for flint and knives as they learned to hunt and forage for their evening food. It also helped to reinforce what is already known, there is no sweeter sight than a supply of fresh ration packs, or maybe there is.
The Company rotated through a varied array of stands from hunting, foraging, cooking, navigating and shelter building in order to develop upon their existing bush craft skills. Patience and resilience were sternly tested and the teams were not found wanting. Navigation was also
(SUT’s) were invited along to take part in some of the events with a chance to meet more of the Company and receive a small taste of some of the training they may take part in once they pass out and become members of 4 MERCIAN.
The large recruiting effort (OP Fortify) has seen many a new member of the company walk through the doors of Stoke-on-Trent Army Reserve Center and the numbers are growing steadily this year. As I write this in August, the company has 15 new attested members this year with a further 17 looking to join before the year is out. We have
seen an increase in Ex Regular soldiers joining the company which has helped increase our trained strength but with it has given Dragon Company some extremely skilled soldiers to assist with teaching and training the up and coming recruits within the Company and Battalion.
Other new members of the Company include former reservists who have returned from some time away and of course many of the SUT’s have come with no experience of Army life. This includes Pte Rutter, who has now gone on to become a full time member of the regimental recruitment
and mentoring team (RRMT) after recently completing her Class 3 Chefs course. I
am glad to say she is talking to life in the Reserves with ease.
When this fusion of
locations is coupled
with the commitment
of soldiers to support
2 MERCIAN on Op
TOSCA and their
return and the various
battalions’ training
commitments spread
throughout 2015, the
tempo has significantly
increased for the men of D Company.
This year the training started in the cold hills of Leek training area as the company pitted its abilities against
tested as junior and senior members of the company negotiated their way through night and the training area after trying to identify where they had been left while at all times evading potential enemy forces. Once at the checkpoints both soldiers and officers
settled down for a cold evening and began to prepare their food, rabbit and chicken.
As part of the Company’s recruiting efforts, D Company’s ‘soldiers in training’
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
Dragon Company left behind their Rifles and Jetboils to trade them in for flint and knives as they learned to hunt and forage