Page 86 - Mercian Eagle 2013

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THE MERCIAN EAGLE
Foreword
By the Commanding Officer, Lt Col CW Carter MBE
This has been a period of considerable change within 4 MERCIAN. Lt Col Dominic Wilford bade Wolverhampton farewell in March on posting
to the Staff at JCSC, Shrivenham. Major Paul Walkely, formerly Battalion Second in Command now commands 4 MERCIAN’s deployed company on OP TOSCA, he is replaced by Major Graham Crowe, a former Adjutant and Training Major at Wolverhampton, who has joined the Reserve. Major Andrew Wadman R Anglian joined us in April 2013 as Training Major, and has now departed
on resettlement. Captain Andy Snell took over as Adjutant in January and has now departed, on promotion and we welcome Captain Ben Smyth, his replacement. Finally we also welcome back to the Battalion, Captain Mark Woodcroft, to the newly established role of Battalion Career Management Officer. Hopefully, with a new team bedded in, the next 12 months will be less turbulent.
There have been many significant training and operational events of the year. Firstly we have seen the recovery of our individual reinforcements from HERRICK 15 and HERRICK 17, during which there were many notable performances, including the award of the Military Cross to Captain Richard Oates for actions whilst commanding an OMLT and the award of the Queen’s Gallantry Medal to Rifleman Ben Taylor.
Other activity includes the Presentation of New Colours, EX ROMAN STAR in North Italy, the delivery of 2 Short Term Training Team assignments in Uganda and a Staff Training exercise in
Rwanda, participation in our Brigade’s calendar of adventurous training expeditions and our return visit to the French and Italian Alps, supported by the Italian Alpini Brigade and 23 SAS.
In addition, we have seen the beginnings of our ‘pairing’ with 2 MERCIAN. We are now in the final stages of planning for a 2 week cadre camp in STANTA that will also mark the start of our preparation for OP HERRICK 20.
During the period, we have also deployed the Mobile Force Reserve Company for OP TOSCA
in Cyprus. The company deployed as part of 17 Port and Maritime Regiment RLC, but in theatre works directly to HQ UNFICYP. Despite the popular perception of OP TOSCA as a “sunshine tour”, the MFR Coy has been busy with numerous contingency operations, with the added dimension of operating within a sensitive environment, which is, as ever, close to major world events. The company is reinforced in theatre with multinational elements including Argentinean, Czech and Hungarian troops and this has been a challenging and rewarding experience for all. The company returns in October and will be reported on in the next edition of The Mercian Eagle.
As all will be aware, we have seen the Future Reserves 2020 (or FR20) announcement and the related start of OP FORTIFY which is the military campaign to deliver a 30,000 Army Reserve. I want to outline the main changes of FR20 for
4 MERCIAN, because, whilst the totality of the change is very positive for 4 MERCIAN, inevitably there is concern at the loss of some of our TA Centres and this may cloud perceptions.
Firstly we will reorganise to a very similar establishment to that of a regular light infantry battalion (including 2 MERCIAN). The battalion
will consist of 3 Rifle Companies and a Headquarters Company. Each Rifle Company will consist of 2 platoons, a support weapons platoon and a headquarters. This marks a welcome return to our full support weapon capability and we will re- establish our Javelin and Assault Pioneer Platoons and renew the profile of our Mortar and GPMG(SF) platoon. FR20 formally establishes the ‘paired’ relationship with 2 MERCIAN and we will both form part of 42 (North West) Brigade.
Pairing establishes the requirement for joint training and mutual support on operations between battalions. It is worth noting that many regular – reserve ‘pairs’ do not share cap badges, so as a Regiment we will reap huge benefits from the already close relationship between the 2 battalions. Indeed, 2 and 4 MERCIAN are already ahead of the game on this and early planning and joint activity is underway.
So far, so positive, however, adopting a ‘conventional’ ORBAT comes at a cost. As a
7 company battalion, this means that we lose
3 companies: B and F Coys will cease to exist and E Coy will transfer to 6 RIFLES. Associated with this, we will lose our presence at a number of TA Centres (TACs) including Burton, Crewe, Kidderminster, Wigan, Kidderminster.
This does not mean that we have to stop recruiting in North Cheshire, East Staffordshire
or Worcestershire; there are a number of realistic options to explored here and we are developing plans accordingly and have the full support of our Brigade Commander.
The changes have resulted in a welcome return of the battalion to the City of Nottingham. C Coy will move into the TA Centre in Bulwell and maintain a presence in Mansfield. We expect to establish an initial foothold in the City later this year.
Following the announcement in July, transition planning has been underway across the Reserves, and there are a number of questions to be resolved and options to be explored with respect to TA Centres, establishment and equipment. Final timescales are to be confirmed, but we expect major changes to commence from 2015 onwards. Key to the achievement of a full manned, well trained battalion is the requirement to continue delivering the relevant, challenging and high quality training that our soldiers expect and to rebuild our capability to operate at company and company group level. This requires a balancing act, so that we can achieve our reorganisation and meet our recruiting objectives without impacting upon our training and operational output. Indeed, the two are closely linked. We both recruit AND retain on the basis of the quality of the training and operational experiences that we can offer.
In summary, last year has been one of exceptional tempo and variety for 4 MERCIAN as
a Reserve battalion, but also one of considerable success. We look forward to an equally challenging year ahead and in particular, building our partnership with 2 MERCIAN.
4MERCIAN