Page 104 - Light Dragoons 2022 CREST

Inspector Qualification’. B Sqn never found out what was faulty with the Poland drying room, or who was continuously getting injured in there. But regardless, for the last three months of Op CABRIT George and the MO were beyond diligent in their checks of the drying room. They kindly did this under the cover of darkness so as not to interfere with the daily routine of drying clothes.
Upon his return to the UK, a girlfriend richer, he moved to A Sqn where he quickly shaped himself as the Prince Hussein of Jordan’s chaperone. Hussein already had a chaperone in the form of a Major from the Jordanian Army, but George would not be deterred. He will long be remembered for his Shakespearean monologues on the net
that would raise every hackle of the A Sqn NCO’s. It was from these that the A Sqn Sgt’s would give him the nickname ‘Capt Marbles.’
For the rest of the winter, he would immerse himself in the LD Nordic Ski team. However, an invite from Prince Hussein would ensure he put the ski team in his rear-view mirror. He would return however, only this time as a ‘race marshal’, two weeks later. A job that even the event organisers didn’t know existed.
After a quick stint in the African sun as OpFor in Kenya it was time for George to step up to the role of 2IC of the Empire. Working under Johnny Black, it was here that he gained his next nickname, ‘the
Johnny Whisperer’. During what should have been a tough and testing time in the lead up to, and during Op Newcombe in Mali, he managed to keep the Emperor continuously happy. He deftly managed his way through the many levels of Army bureaucracy to get A Sqn ready and while on tour he displayed a relaxed competence.. He will long be remembered for delivering orders, while bird watching, wearing his elephant skin boots.
We wish him well as he prowls the savan- nahs of his adopted African continent, and we have no doubt that his master plan is going precisely how he wants it to.
AR
Neil Robertson (Robbo) joined the Army in April 1998 and attended his phase 1 train- ing at the Army Training Regiment in Pirbright. He excelled here and fully enjoyed the start to his 24 year career. From
here he immediately moved down to the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment in Bovington to conduct his training in becoming a crewman on CVR(T) before joining the Regiment in Hohne where he was placed in D Sqn (The Enemy) 2 Tp.
Once he got settled into regimental life his first major exercise was Ex Bright Star in Egypt, enjoying the sunny delights and being guided by Ces Rhodes. It wasn’t long after this that ‘The Enemy’ was disbanded and he now found himself wearing the glo- rious custard yellow of A Sqn being part of 3 Tp and then Spt Tp.
Once the Regiment had settled into life at Swantas, Neil deployed on his first tour to Bosnia in 2002 with the Legion. Whilst in Banja Luka the Sqn was informed that they would backfill both Sqn’s for the Regiment’s upcoming deployment to Iraq on Op Telic 2. Unfortunately, Neil had just been notified a week earlier that he was to be posted to the Royal Armoured Corps Recruitment team. No amount of kicking and screaming would change this and so the minute the Sqn arrived back in Norfolk he was away living the good life in Dorset.
As they say, all good things come to an end. In 2004 he went back to Regimental duty again wearing the delightful custard yel- low but this time as a LCpl. It was when
he returned to Norfolk he met Hollie and before you knew it they were a married couple and had Twin Boy’s. Jack & Jake born 26th November 2004. Before long another tour of Iraq was announced, and Neil once again was to deploy with C Sqn SHQ as the SSM’s driver, who at the time was Chris Pollard. This was a quiet tour other than Tony Duncan having an Irish Bullet hit his leg. If you don’t know about it, I’m sure you’re one of the only few who don’t. Once Neil returned he attended his Regimental Signals Instructor Course and was awarded a very credible B Schools rec- ommendation. He never knew how being a Signals instructor would one day come back and bite him.
After a period of general normality, the increased presence in Afghanistan was announced and C Sqn were to be deployed on Op Herrick 5 as part of 3 Commando Brigade. Neil was this time deployed as the OC’s driver, who at the time was Maj Ben Warrick. He has found memories of this tour and it would be his last in Afghanistan as part of a Light Dragoon deployment. Once Neil returned in 2006 from Herrick 5 he was promoted to Cpl and sent away to become a Crew Commander. He worked extremely hard during the course and was placed in the top third of a very strong cohort of Cpl’s. Once the course was over he was once again moved Sqn’s. But this time he would be wearing the very bold and dashing black of Command Tp. It must have been here where the love of Golf took off especially when the RSWO was Si Stott.
From Cmd Tp Neil went on to become a Forward Air Controller; a period of his career he will never forget, and I am sure it is his most memorable time whilst being in the Army. He deployed twice again on Op Herrick. On Herrick 10 as a JTAC for the OMLT & 16 as a TAC(P) 2IC in sup- port of the Royal Welsh Battlegroup. He
toured Helmand province supporting all Battlegroups with either Close Air Support or Low-Level shows of force. Away from operational tours he spent a lot of time training, conducting live drops in coun- tries such as America, Canada, Corsica & Cyprus to name a few. It was during this appointment he was promoted to Sgt. It must also be pointed out that this is where he built a very strong bond and friendship with the late Mark ‘Axel’ Foley. As thick as thieves the both of them and I am sure Neil has a few stories of their antics whilst they were away. In 2008, the Robertson clan would once again increase in size when Hollie gave birth to another boy, Mackenzie.
After his time jet setting around the world, Neil returned to the Regiment and joined the Legion as Spt Tp Sgt. This was only to be for a short period, due to the Regiment deploying on Ex Praire Storm. Spt Tp was to be disbanded and he took up the role of SHQ Tp Sgt. Neil is physically scarred for life because of this exercise. Not because he ‘accidently rolled’ a Pinz whilst command- ing Jack Gargan during a night move but because of the horrendous tattoo he got with Tony Duncan, Matt Costello & Axel Foley. CAL-GARY will live on for many years to come.
It was once again time to move on and this time it would be back to Cmd Tp as the Tp Sgt in Nov 2013. At this point Neil had realised the days of chilling out and play- ing Snooker in the mess were over and pro- ceeded to complete his JAMES training at a rapid rate of knots. An unexpected turn of events happened and in 2014 he was pro- moted to SSgt. From here he took over the role as Bowman Systems Manager. I told you the B School’s would come back and get him.
After the Regiment moved back to its heart land of Yorkshire in 2015 Neil assumed the
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