Page 18 - RSDG Year of 2022 CREST

16 EAGLE AND CARBINE
Connell again was put in charge of running the team which only had a one week build window for all LFTT ranges and a small crew of 15 soldiers with which to do it. The grenade pit alone required hundreds of sandbags and considerable earthworks so Sgt Connell used his engineer connections to set about securing plant and operators from 32 Engineer Regiment. Without their help the task would have involved a significantly higher shovelling workload! With a backbreaking effort from C Squadron and maximum effort concentrated on the fire team range – as this was the most complex, all ranges were eventually completed ahead of schedule. Sgt Connell was soon re-tasked as a target operator for Capt Walpole and LCpl Stewart took control as sentry IC... that was until he managed to write off the sentry’s only means of transport by ripping the sump out on the Southern Transit road! Op CLEAN UP then hastily took place and there were some very unhappy faces from both range wardens and C Squadron soldiers who began shovelling up a mile long oil spill. Thanks Gary. After a successful range package came the range clean up. Tpr Reid ensured this would be challenging by running over the remaining digging equipment with the SV. Thanks Josh. As luck would have it, Task Force Hannibal were about to start their exercise, so Sgt Connell again utilised all his experience and charm to secure the use of a Medium Wheeled Tractor to level the grenade area, saving a lot of shovel action. With the range wardens satisfied the training area wasn’t totally ruined, the green light was given for the team to head home for a well-deserved spot of summer leave. The range build was also the last hurrah of LCpl King, who departed the Army at the end of June; our best wishes to him in his future
Massed Pipes and Drums prepare to go on stage
endeavours. Prior to leave the squadron also saw the departure of two key personalities, the OC, Maj A. Champion replaced by Maj G. Macfarlane and the SQMS, SSgt Steele, who after a stint as the backbone of C Squadron headed to Welfare Office.
Over the summer leave period some of the squadron were still hard at work and had the privilege of repre- senting the Regiment at the Edinburgh Tattoo and Fringe Festival. On arrival at the castle, the team, led by Cpl Neil, were greeted by a huge set up of the venue’s 12,000 seat infrastructure on the Esplanade overlooking Edinburgh. The Castle staff gave them a rundown on what their roles and responsibilities would be as the “Arena Team” for the six weeks on task. The roles varied from rolling out LED platform stages, to pyro fire pots, clearing areas for fireworks displays and general assistance of the public. On the very first show night they were all given two tickets for family or friends who could attend for free, a good start, however, as the gates opened it was clear that this would be no easy task. Once the hard work of seating and preparation for the show was complete, the team were able to take a breather and enjoy the fruits of their labours. After the show, the closedown of the castle had to completed be 2330 every night. From there the team chose to ditch their Redford Barracks accommo- dation and instead go to the university halls and party with the Mexican Band, American band, New Zealand Band, The Swiss Top-Secret Drummers and of course the Pipes and Drums. The entire team had a once in a lifetime experience and all said that they would love to go again.
August and September flew by with SSgt Grieve returning from RMAS as a Platoon SSgt and swapping his pace stick for AINUs as the new SQMS. The second change of 2IC also took place with Capt J. McLaughlin out and Capt C. MacLeod in.
Ex CERBERUS 22 was the highlight of October, which provided Capt MacLeod an opportunity to become acting CO and SSgt Grieve to strut his stuff as COS for the Regiment on a divisional level CATT and CAST. With Sgts Connell and Dornan as battle captains and Cpls MacLeod and McCubbin in as intelligence officers the team were able to provide the required planning cell even though the usual RHQ were already deployed on MRX for NEWCOME 5. Nevertheless, 7X asked and C Squadron provided possibly the most unqualified BGHQ in NATO and off to Germany they went... well, so they thought. The exercise got off to a rocky start when one of the hire cars was stopped by the police outside Abington with a shocked Cpl McCubbin being told that his vehicle was stolen, thankfully this issue was quickly solved by