Page 119 - RSDG Year of 2022 CREST

EAGLE AND CARBINE 127 UNSOC – From STANTA to Stockholm
Captain EHD Peppiatt
Earlier in the year of 2022 the Task Group Headquarters were made aware of the necessity for two officers to be trained in the ways of the UN Staff prior to our deployment to Mali. Following the ever-present values and standards found within my character, I immediately put my name forward to take the hit and save anyone else from having to spend an extra month away from home – all are welcome for my service. This decision had nothing to do with the location of the UNSOC (UN Staff Officers’ Course). With the funds secured and my bags packed, I jumped on a plane to Stockholm with a month of recent MRX planning and dreams of Scandinavian adventures.
As part of the packing list we were instructed to bring our “best dress uniform” for the purpose of the opening ceremony, course photo and the final ceremony and dinner. I can say for certain that the No. 1 dress of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is just a tad more ostenta- tious than those of our fellow UN comrades – not a lot of crossbelts were to be seen. Nevertheless, with plenty of compliments towards the Regiment’s dress states, the course commenced.
The first week saw the officers from across the globe in lectures covering numerous aspects of the UN before we split down into syndicates to start our lessons on the UN Planning Process. Here was where it became clear how early we, as an army, introduce our young officers to the planning process. With an Estonian officer in my syndicate who had spent years working with the UK’s Combat Estimate, we quickly realised
the differences that we now faced working in a UN context.
With the first week done, the Swedes treated us to a weekend in Stockholm with a guided tour of the city by coach and a visit to the Vasa museum (a 17th Century ship that managed to stay afloat for only slightly longer that Capt Walpole’s career as an Intelligence Officer).
Week two was back at the Life Guards Regiment, located forty-five minutes outside of Stockholm, for our second planning exercise, this time with less handholding from the instructors. Working with a Danish air force captain, a Japanese naval commander and a Nigerian Wing Commander in the G3 sphere, we put together plans for the military support element in Bogoland.
Once Sector 2 of the UN Mission in Bogoland had been successfully supported, the week was closed off by a “fireside chat” with Ellen Løj who had been Special Representative to the Secretary General in both Liberia and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Following another weekend in Stockholm, it became clear that week three was to be the main event of the three-week course. Now joined by the Swedish police officers who were on the UN Police Officer Course and the civilians on the UN Civilian Staff Officer Course, we were back in Bogoland striving for peace. This proved to be an incredible experience that saw me, as the Sector Chief Operations Officer, having to
brief our military courses of action to civilians. Not before I had to explain what a course of action actually was. The week and course finished with a closing ceremony back in blues, a dinner and plenty of speeches. A last social occasion and I was back on a plane to unpack from three weeks of snow and repack for six months in Mali.
Scotland’s Cavalry brings chainmail to Scandinavia.