Page 8 - RSDG Year of 2022 CREST

6 EAGLE AND CARBINE
FOREWORD
Lieutenant Colonel B Parkyn The Commanding Officer
The theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr, once said “The more complex the world situation becomes, the more scientific and rational analysis you have to have, the less you can do with simple good will and sentiment.”
Every morning, Cpl Grimes asks our Malian cleaner “Ya’right, pal?”. Cpl Grimes is not scientific (or rational). He is a soldier, but the effect of his simple gesture of good will and sentiment is profound; he visibly lifts the Malian’s spirit. The UK’s decision to withdraw from Mali was not based on science, it was based on sentiment: “we are saddened by the way the Government in Bamako have made it so difficult for well-meaning nations to remain there”. Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine was not based on science and appears irrational to many. Soldiers exist for when science and rationality fail. Science and rational analysis have not simplified a soldier’s world. Deploying, sustaining and recovering troops is increas- ingly complex because the science and rationality have become more complicated.
The one thing that has not changed is that Cpl Grimes and his fellow soldiers continue to achieve remarkable things, as you will read about in these pages, with simple good will and sentiment. This is not just because they choose to, but because they have to; soldiering is a human and emotional endeavour, and it always will be. As such, soldiering is timeless. As you read these pages, you will relate to many of the situations because you have been there yourself, in some way. You will feel like you know many of the characters because, thankfully, there is always a Cpl Grimes. As such, these stories are all part of our continuing story as a Regiment.
I hope that you enjoy reading these stories as much as we have enjoyed being in them. Where our story goes is uncertain because the world is increasingly complex. But as long as every morning starts with a “Ya’right, pal?”, then I think we will probably be alright.