Page 30 - The Gazette Autumn 2024

30 The Gazette QARANC Association
Getting LS&GC with Bar from Countess of Wessex whilst CO 5 Armd Med Regt during Countess of Wessex Cup
Commission photo
He sums up: “You join the army to go to war, and to do what you’re trained to do is really good. As a captain, one of my things I did was speak to the soldiers say to them, ‘Look, this what we’re here to do, to save lives, you’ve been trained to do it, so just focus on doing that.”
In terms of career highlights, Paul’s has two. The first was being the OC at 3 Med 16 Squadron, on Op HERRICK 12 in Afghanistan, 2010. He worked with “great people” and believes the regiment did good work amid one of the bloodiest deployments of that long campaign. Again, Paul would give pep talks, letting people know what to expect, when they go on patrol, if they are shot at, when they treat their first casualty, but the training will “kick in” and they would not be found wanting.
“One of the girls got a Military Cross, we got some commendations, and every single one of them did what they were trained to do, from the youngest private soldier all the way through to the most senior nurse. There were injuries here and there, but everybody came home, which was really good because I went to so many memorials for people who died there, and that’s one thing I think that really affected me.”
Paul’s other highlight was as SO2 Med at Joint Force Headquarters – the “best staff job ever”. It is Joint Force HQ who plan all the eventualities if ‘countries go wrong,’ which includes drawing up extraction plans to get British civilians out. Paul travelled a lot, stayed in five-star hotels (“they’re the ones with the communication and security, but
Clinical leadership is “making sure the right people do the right thing,” Paul says. He sees leadership more generally as making sure others are educated and driven, that they are getting involved militarily where they need to be, developing fitness and skills and building an ethos where individuals see themselves as part of something greater than themselves. “My ethos is to try and give people as much opportunity as I can, trusting that individual to do the job well, and I think there’s nothing better than developing people,” says Paul.
For Op TELIC 1, the code name for British Army involvement in the second Gulf War, Close Support Medical Regiment was Paul’s first “proper field unit”. He deployed in February 2003, alongside the officer commanding (OC) of the dressing station, to kit out Kuwait. Paul recalls it as a “good experience but a sombre time”, the first half a dozen casualties to be treated were ‘blue on blue’ incidents. There was also lots of moving around, setting up tents, digging trenches, diving in them.
“I think we all knew there was going to be a war when they went ‘Right, this is your last opportunity to have a phone call,’” says Paul, who was in charge of the satellite phone. There was a concern about Scud missile attack, but Paul found the experience of going to war eye opening, and where I realised there was “more to the army” than nursing. There were also experiences with austere environments, limited equipment, and even close encounters with a scorpion – “weird and surreal”.
Look, this what we’re here to do, to save lives, you’ve been trained to do it, so just focus on doing that
DMS DG Commendation – For work whilst at ADOC Hadrian Wall walk whilst CO 5 Armd Med Regt Mess Dinner