Page 65 - Mercian Eagle 2013

C Company
Since I last wrote at the end of BATUS,
C Company has changed almost beyond recognition. Having been an AI organisation structured, we have re-roled to be a dismounted Company.
Following BATUS the first challenge was to rebuild from 40 men to the operational strength of 109 plus a Battlefield Casualty Replacement Platoon of 40 soldiers.
This was achieved simply – we received every soldier the Battalion was sent
from November onwards, leading us to treat bedspaces as a critical information requirement and rifles as a scarce resource. Unfortunately, the BCMO was unable to match the supply of soldiers with a supply of Brecon trained NCOs; the CO became bored of hearing the OC’s key risk of lack of junior management and the OC became bored of being assured by the 2IC and Adjt that they both “got it” and were “all over it”. We finally achieved full NCO manning on FTX...9 months later...
of the PM Section which will deploy, ably facilitated by LCpl Lacey who has become an instant Mastiff ninja.
The first part of the year also focused
on low level skills and training; we ran a range package in Sennelager in February which offered a good chance to get away from the Battalion – though it turned out we
Pashtun ManCub or Pashtun King Louis programmed!.
Several weeks of Cascade training followed as we worked on the various skills on which training had begun and we started the full training. As part of the ongoing merry-go-round, we were now working for the Coldstream Guards; whilst a shock for us, it was more of one for them, as they received 7 days notice to deploy there! The exercise went well with a strong report and a good rapport with the Battle Group.
During the Cascade and CAST process, we also took part in the Presentation of Colours and the Laying up of the Staffords Colours. The Company was lead for each, as A Company were far too busy
– presumably they needed more time to deliver the same effect? The events went well, and are covered elsewhere, but the experience for the blokes and included a visit to the FA training facility organised by Lt Whatling. Perhaps the most notable feature outside the ceremony was the
first of many bus trips to the UK over the summer – PONC was innocuous and
lulled us into a false sense of security – 20 hours each way, making 40 hours in buses. Laying Up was a little harder, coming as it did after a week’s work, but added only the same burden.
80 hours in Buses
The next key step was the Recce – which proved emotional as the RAF took four days to get OC and CSM to theatre via Cyprus (twice and 36 hours delay), Brize Norton (twice and 12 hours delay) and Minhad (12 hours delay), before managing 36 hours in the control base before a return journey which saw us delayed, again, in Cyprus for 8 hours and Brize overnight. The consolation was the chance to see the British Lions finally finish off the Australians.
Following an 18 hour journey from Fallingbostel, Castlemartin was a balmy 35 degrees throughout as we conducted a live fire package which was only in the loosest possible way connected with HERRICK, but
Officer Commanding
Maj OER Major R WELSH
Company Second in
Capt J Coutts/Capt V Graves
Command
FST Commander
Capt M Rea RHA
Company Sergeant Major
WO2 (CSM) GLong
Company Quartermaster Sergeant
Sgt Spilsbury/C Sgt Werrett
Intelligence Officer
2Lt J Greenwood INT CORPS
Ops NCO/Principle Wkpr
CSgt Johnson
Ops NCO/Fleet Manager
Sgt Swann
RSDC
Cpl Yates
Coy Clerk
Cpl Naicobo
7 Platoon
8 Platoon
9 Platoon
10 Platoon
Lt J McNeil
Lt C Bermingham/ Lt N Hudson
Lt E Whatling
Lt D Smith
Sgt Street
Sgt Browne / Sgt Peake
Sgt Buckler/ Sgt Sumner
Sgt Cornbill
Opinions vary
over whether the
arrival of four Platoon
Commanders
compensated for the
lack of NCOs – the
Platoon Commanders
felt it did; the rest of
the Company felt it
didn’t. However, it was
a new experience for
the OC and CSM to have such creatures around; the CSM in particular took
great delight in mentoring and shaping them. Their nature as loose cannons
was enhanced by the lack of Platoon Sergeants – however, Sgt Street, Sgt Cornbill and Sgt Browne worked hard to maintain order. As the year went on, they were reinforced by Sgt Peake from Recce, Sgt Buckler from Snipers and Sgt Sumner from Catterick. Sgt Browne went off to
the Divisional Training Team in Catterick, Sgt Smith 61, who was with us for a short time was promoted and sentenced to 2 years Dragon Company and Sgt Spilsbury, who had stood in as an able CQMS,
was dragged kicking, screaming and blaspheming back to the QM’s Department.
We were also joined by a bespoke
10 Platoon from B Company, initially to form as a Mastiff troop but, as that dropped off the order of battle like so much else, to fight for places in what was becoming a pretty competitive selection. They brought a different approach; they had been hardened by BATUS and the experience of defeat by C Company 4 nil (last year’s notes....Ed) but were willing to learn and we soon brought them up to our standard. They lead initially on the vehicle training and form the core
were the only people working half term. “Why are you on the ranges next week?” asked the 2IC as he departed on leave; “Because that’s when you booked it
for us” answered the OC. The snow was less welcome but made
the Company smoker
more interesting! We also managed some fun – Lt Whatling just about managed
to pull off the tricky skill of organising
a cultural visit to the Becks Brewery in Bremen. Lt Bermingham organised both an Adventure Training event at the Dummersee and participation in the Lourdes Pilgrimage and Lt McNeil forced a surprisingly large group to run the Lichfield half Marathon, raising £1300 for Regimental Funds. Following CFX, Lt Whatling had had the idea of completing in a Tough Mudder event, which I’d supported – you can see his report on how well this went elsewhere!
After Easter, we entered MST proper. Pashtun Hawk essentially consisted
of ranges on Sennelager; C Company approach remained a balance of professional achievement during the day and enjoyment at night, culminating in
the now traditional company barbecue supported brilliantly by Sgt Sewell and his team. By this stage, everyone except the Bn 2IC, who wrote them, had lost patience with the system of names for exercises and reverted to calling them what they were
– CFX, CALFEX, FTX and so on – rather than adhering to the Jungle Book music used. We were only surprised there was no
Opinions vary over whether the arrival of four Platoon Commanders compensated for the lack of NCOs
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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