Page 4 - RADC 2017

FOREWORD
Foreword
Colonel T Davies L/RADC, Chief Dental Officer (Army)
One of the responsibilities of
the Chief Dental Officer (Army) (formerly the Director Army Dental Services) is to write the foreword for the RADC Bulletin. Having been the Editor of this publication a few years ago I must admit to having a good understanding of the frustrations of the job and the sheer joy/relief when the Bulletin finally comes together. I also appreciate the politeness shown to me by the present Editor when he has sent the nth reminder for the Bulletin Foreword to the CDO(A); my only excuse is that when you come
to write it time needs to be set
aside for the task and, as with
us all these days, time is and
shall continue to be a limiting
factor. I pointed out at Corps
weekend that many roles which
had been full time jobs were
now secondary duties and that
this was not going to change.
The Bulletin Editor, however, has
always been a secondary duty
and my thanks go to Maj Rene
Cheema for all his hard work
this year (and yes, especially the
cajoling of individuals for articles
because it is required) in putting
together another excellent magazine that not only puts together a summary of some of the interesting events and opportunities that our personnel have undertaken, and been involved with this year, but also includes links to the past and remains an expression of the capabilities of our Corps for the future.
When I was the Editor my first editorial included a paragraph that expressed the belief that we make the best of what we have now; there is no going back in time to a better place
because first of all that is impossible, and
secondly “rose tinted” spectacles are easy to pick up and actually those times were not as good as we believe them to be in retrospect. Our time is now and this Bulletin proves it;
it is an expression of so much of what is good about the Royal Army Dental Corps, its soldiers and officers, the way these personnel work together to get the job done, the happy smiling faces whilst they are doing it and our camaraderie of which many are quite rightly jealous.
Corps Weekend had a different venue
and timetable this year. DMS (W) at Lichfield proved to be an excellent location and the feedback has been extremely positive. The RADC Corps gathering in 2018 will be similar; we are working hard at minimising the impact of the time away from your families and as many of you who are able to will be expected to attend.
My messages given out on the Saturday morning of this year’s congregation are already being articulated within this year’s Bulletin;
2 RADC BULLETIN 2017
Our time is now and this Bulletin proves it...
Exercise Bellowing Dragon, the new Portable Dental Unit and NOMAD X-Ray system, more exercises in the field, interaction between our Staff & Command and Clinical cadres all increase the knowledge and participation of our personnel in Field Unit activity and will provide us with more platforms to interact in the future.
I recently had to write a response which included praising the capability and flexibility of our Dental Nurse Cadre, skills which other organisations wish to utilise but these are abilities (and people) I wish to maintain
in our Corps because they
are necessary for our future. Similarly, the Corps said goodbye to some serving officers at this year’s annual dinner in October, friends and colleagues who all embodied various personal attributes which the Corps would do well to maintain. However, it was noted that the majority rank of officers being dined out was that of major when in the past it has been lieutenant colonel
– this is just a sign of the times and an expression of how reliant the Corps is on all its ranks to perform at a high level.
As usual, the Bulletin contains much information on various sporting events, Adventure Training and expeditions, and I will take the opportunity to reiterate my second paragraph to say again that your time is now and that you must apply to experience these varied and different opportunities. If you are unsuccessful please apply
again at a future date. As a PDO I understand that the majority of us are providing an extremely important service for the Army and the wider military, within DPHC(Dental), but there are reasons why we joined the Army and they should not have included spending 100% of our military careers providing dentistry within a dental centre in the Firm Base. Our raison d’être is to support our military wherever and whenever we are able.
As CDO(A), a role for which I remain humbled and honoured to be selected for,
I am called upon to utilise my experience in making decisions for the future of the RADC
and, in doing so, that includes listening to advice and concerns from all Corps members, past and present, for not to do so before making some decisions would be entirely foolhardy. I mention this so that every one of you understands that it is the people who make up the RADC, its past, its present and its future, and, therefore, it is up to us to maintain that communication in order to move forward together.