Page 33 - MERCIAN Eagle 2019

Catering Department
WO2 James Smith
2019 has been a busy and productive year for the Catering Department, which has seen the chefs involved in
a plethora of activities ranging from sports to large scale catering functions. On a catering front our part as the lead unit for the Salisbury Armed Forces Day has been the pinnacle of the year. Superbly planned and executed by
Sgt Wood. The chefs delivered on all fronts whilst tasked to deliver multiple catering tasks from separate locations for well over 2,000 personnel. This activity included providing over 2,000 breakfasts for marching troops in addition to providing a catering service for VIP guests and normal daily feeding activities for all service personnel deployed within Hudsons Field.
At late notice the Catering Department entered the highly prestigious field catering competition (EX ARMY SUSTAINER). With minimal time to prepare, a makeshift team was superbly led by Cpl Ghigroo who was very unlucky in only just falling short of the top 3.
Throughout the year the Department have answered the call to multiple trawls and 1X taskings, Pte Ryan
is currently living the dream in the Falkland Isles as part of BFSAI whilst Sgt Worboyes is currently detached to the Empowerment team.
In between multiple Battalion commitments there has been plenty of scope to attend career enhancing courses that the chefs have taken
full advantage of such as: improvised cookery, butchery and advanced driving courses. In addition to this
the department have played their
part in representing the Battalion at numerous sports such as: boxing (Pte Briggs - current Brigade heavyweight champion), Nordic skiing (Sgt Worboyes), tug of war (Sgt Wood) and football (LCpl Clark, Pte Krakue and Sgt Worboyes).
There has been a lot of shift to personnel within the Department within the past year. We have said goodbye to both Cpl Griffin and LCpl Walker who have moved on to pastures new having been selected for promotion, and we have welcomed LCpl Lucas, LCpl Montanari, Pte Blackwood and Pte Palmer.
2019 has been a good year for the department. We are currently bracing ourselves for the forthcoming festive activities before standing down for some well-earned Christmas leave. Looking ahead we thoroughly embrace the challenges that 2020 will surely bring.
CIS Platoon
2019 – What a year for the mighty CIS Platoon! The last 12 months has seen the Platoon go through a period of dramatic change of growth and development off the back of a successful overseas deployment to Oman on Ex SAIF SAREEA III in 2018. Cpl Hill and Cpl Westfield deployed on Op CABRIT providing vital G6 support to the KRH Battlegroup. We have also seen no fewer than 9 new soldiers join us; some from across Battalion and some brand new and fresh from ITC Catterick. A special welcome goes to these soldiers and to CSgt Cromwell our new CQMS. We’ve also a few goodbyes to say, including to CSgt Keane who will develop
Battalion Gunnery Camp. This is generally an annual deployment and without the
vital communications link established
and maintained by the platoon, it would
not get off the ground. The end of the Bn Gunnery Camp saw the start of arguably the biggest task of the year for CIS Platoon – the uplift in equipment and capability of
all communications equipment to BCIP
5.6. This was incredibly hands-on for the platoon who had to strip and send off all
the Bowman equipment to be updated with new software. Simultaneously, several of our RSDC instructors attended a 3-day BCIP 5.6 train the trainer package to prepare
the next generation of signallers in Bovington and to Pte Oakes who has been posted to the Regimental recruiting team. All in all, it has been an excellent year with the focus being on capability change, upskilling and soldier personal development.
All in all, it has been an excellent year with the focus being on capability change, upskilling and soldier personal development
for the intensive task of training the rest of the Battalion on the new equipment and systems.
The last quarter
of 2019 saw the CIS team run BCIP 5.6 training courses for the whole Battalion who will now look forward to testing the new capability on exercise
The year started out
with soldiers from the Platoon supporting
B Coy’s deployment on Ex Khanjar Oman with Pte Swindley and Pte Albiston stepping up to ensure mission success in the
desert. While our main function is to ensure effective combat communications, all our soldiers are ready to step into any role at
a moment’s notice – bayonet fixed. The period also consisted of a number of our new soldiers undergoing Signaller training starting with courses run by our qualified instructors in Battalion (Basic Radio User and Infantry Platoon Radio Operator) followed by a more intensive six-week course held at the
Combat CIS School in
Bovington (Regimental
Signaller). We have
qualified no less than
six junior soldiers up to
the required standard in
the last 12 months with more to qualify next year. They can be immensely proud of their efforts in these technical courses which will have a direct impact in the Battalions ability to operate effectively in the coming year.
The next period from April onwards saw Cpl Duffy, Cpl Sukha and Pte Swindley deploy to Seattle in Washington, USA, to offer their technical hand as part of Ex Joint Warfighter Assessment (JWA); a Bde-
Div exercise working closely with the US army. This was yet another example of the adaptability of CIS soldiers and the value they can add at the higher Operational
and Strategic level. On return, most of the Platoon complete deployed to Castlemartin Ranges in Pembrokeshire to enable the
in 2020. The 5.6 uplift culminates with a full Battalion Fleet and equipment PACEX run by the platoon which will ensure the new equipment capability is working and fit for purpose. This has occurred with several soldiers from the Platoon away deployed on Op ORBITAL in Ukraine. Capt Johl, Sgt Harrison, LCpl Salt, Pte Albiston and Pte Jarram all instructed and supported various teams providing critical training to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In the margins over the past 12 months, the platoon has been preparing for an exciting 2020 by completing several
All in all, a fantastic year
courses including Bulldog Drivers
and Commanders courses, CAT C driving licenses, Panther Driving courses and Foxhound DMI courses.
Several individuals have also successfully completed promotional courses. Cpl Duffy and Cpl Clayton successfully passed RSAS and LCpl Salt, Walsh, Fraser and Davis completed RSDCs – an exceptional effort all round. A notable mention must also go to Pte Jarram who passed the Kings Division JNCO Cadre and is now ready to promote to LCpl. The Platoon has also already seen two soldiers this year including CSgt Edge and Cpl Salt - hard work pays off! All in all, a fantastic year. The Platoon will now take some much-deserved Xmas leave before hitting the ground running in what looks to be an exciting year ahead in 2020.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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