Page 23 - QARANC Vol 14 No 10 2015

4 Armoured Medical Regiment -
EXERCISE BLACK EAGLE (Poland) October 2014
EXERCISE BLACK EAGLE (EX BE) was conducted in Poland during Oct – Nov 14 with the aim of providing re-assurance to Eastern European members of NATO. King Royal Hussars Battle Group (KRH BG) as the Lead Armoured Battle Group (LABG) were tasked to conduct both live and dry training alongside the Polish Army, who provided a Platoon from 1 Tank Battalion.
Deploying Mid-Oct the nominated personnel from 4 AMR travelled over land and sea, via Germany to Poland, and air from RAF Brize Norton to Karliki Barracks, Zagan, which would become home for the coming weeks. The Medical Centre was made up of five wooden railway type carriages. We split the carriages down and established a reception, consultation/ emergency care room, a ward, a crew room for Evac Troop’s five-minute standby crew. Over a period of the first week the Medical Centre became fully manned with 24 personnel (2 QA’s!) from 4 AMR made up of SNO (Capt Dove), GDMO, RN SNCO (myself!), SQMS, CMT’s and RLC ranks all deployed to provide Role 1 medical support. Working directly under RMO KRH (Maj Owens) and her team we provided essential daily PHC along with a 4 bed ward, and real time BFA crew cover at a multitude of range and exercise ambulance exchange points.
Language did prove to be a significant barrier and the RAF linguist (Fl Lt Burnett) proved our savour with his excellent grasp of the local dialect, which was key in overcoming the problems of entitlement to medical and dental care. The medical centre was also busy, due to the high amount of mosquito bites, which surprised individuals because of the time of year and the location they were in.
Our PTI’s formed the CSS Super teams Competition, consisting of; a 3km run, volleyball, a upper body circuit and a endurance event which included a stretcher race, boot run and 10kg tab. The event was a weekly occurrence and provided competition between the CSS Group which was led
Take Cover! Capt Dove and myself onboard a KRH Challenger 2
by 4 Armd CS REME, and consisted of 4 Regt RLC, 3 RMP, 16 Sig Regt, and 4 Armd Med Regt. The PTI’s for their efforts and hard work were rewarded with the Commanding Officers Gold Coin.
Organised trips to the East Wall, Stalag Luft III (where the film ‘The Great Escape’ was based) and Auschwitz. Each trip was enlightening and educational to everyone. The silence that followed on the coach journey from Auschwitz showed the respect that the troops had for the people that suffered during their time there. We also had opportunity to remember the fallen the Polish Army had their freedom parade, which included a Church Service and parade. A Remembrance Service, at Karliki Barracks for the British Army, followed this the next day. Overall the exercise proved to be a complete success and the integration with the Polish armed forces has meant that should be deploy to the area again next year, we will be welcomed with open arms by Polish Army.
Sgt Grant QARANC
MRS Tp
THE GAZETTE QARANC 21
The Team! 4 AMR – Med tp EX Black Eagle