Page 20 - MERCIAN Eagle 2019

The Meeanee Coin, inspired by the original medal awarded to the 22nd Foot for service in the Battle of Meeanee, 1843. Maj / Edward Michell / Bulford / 6 Jan 19.
18
C (Meeanee) Company
Maj Edward Michell
This year has been unconventional for the Company. Returning from Ex SAEF SAREEA 3 in 2018, the Battalion’s manpower was insufficient to fill all three rifle Companies, particularly given the demands of A Company’s deployment to Estonia on Op CABRIT. As such,
C Company was given the task of re- structuring to become an organisation focussed on the rehabilitation and recovery of 1 MERCIAN’s injured soldiers. This move would simultaneously free up deployable Private soldiers and JNCOs for the other companies whilst improving the Battalion’s ability to return our people to full fitness.
Taking our inspiration from Sir Charles Napier, who achieved victory at the Battle of Meeanee in 1843 with a small force against superior numbers, the Company changed its structure entirely in January 2019. We reduced our Company HQ and Platoon staff drastically, whilst taking on extra PTIs able to assist our efforts. Divested of young officers, our SNCOs stepped up to take extra responsibility for tasks associated
with rehab and recovery. We took on the majority of the Battalion’s soldiers with musculoskeletal injuries and introduced
a training programme built around two physical training sessions a day – one for fitness and one for recovery. With our small pool of permanent staff, we continued to deliver individual training on military skills whilst investing in the personal development of our injured people. Accompanying this, we improved our management of them, working with the medical services and through the appropriate Management Information Systems to ensure we returned soldiers to the other companies in short
order. Underpinning all of this, we became C (Meeanee) Company, a sub-unit founded on good habits, positive teamwork and thinking first, with a defined identity based around one of the
with over 40 downgraded soldiers,
the programme we have introduced in
C Company has returned injured soldiers back to full fitness with far greater expediency than we were able to manage in 2018. Whilst some injuries are unavoidably long term, we have managed to return
over a platoon’s worth of manpower to
the Battalion which might otherwise have languished, undeployable, without this approach.
However, this has not been all
the Company has achieved. To ensure our fully deployable staff maintain their high levels of professional competence, we were also tasked to lead the Battalion’s contribution to Operation ORBITAL in Ukraine. Whilst this was, without doubt,
a whole Battalion effort, C Company provided the central command and control spine which ensured all of 1 MERCIAN’s Short Term Training Teams (STTTs)
were generated, prepared, deployed
and recovered effectively. By providing
this continuity, we were also able to
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
Mercian Regiment’s unique battle honours. This is encapsulated
in the award of a Meeanee Company Coin; a replica of the Meeanee Medal, which was unique to the 22nd Regiment of Foot in the British Army.
all returned with a much
greater understanding of the future threats that might face the British Army
identify many areas
for improvement of
the overall operation, paving the way for our successors (the RDG and 3 RIFLES) to deliver even more effective training to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Almost every deployable member of the Company
We now present one to all soldiers when they are upgraded and move to another company.
And the approach has worked. Starting
participated in at least one STTT, with many spending most of the summer and autumn in Ukraine. Through this experience all returned with a much greater understanding of the future threats that might face the British Army, whilst also improving their capability as instructors and military professionals.
Simultaneously, our tech team performed sterling work by leading the Battalion’s contribution to the transfer
of the operational vehicle fleet from
Ex SAEF SAREEA 3 to Estonia under Op TRACTABLE. Working hard to resolve the many issues which they faced through
this unglamorous task, our success in completing all transactions by the end of September was the result of 9 months hard work by a small but dedicated group. We have also supported other Battalion activity such as providing staff to PJNCO and Pre-Brecon cadres and giving support to Ex VIRTUAL EAGLE. Every member of the Company has been uncomplaining in our role as the supporting, not supported, sub-unit, and in doing so they have contributed to the overall capability of the whole Battalion.
Excluding our restructure, we said
Maj Michell, OC C (Meeanee) Coy, discusses training with Col Khoda, Deputy Commander of the 128th Mountain Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. Maj / Edward Michell / Uzhhorod, Ukraine / 17 Jun 19.