Page 20 - QDG Vol. 9 No. 2 CREST

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1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
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lectures and practical demonstrations, before conducting realistic practical taskings covering all elements of the discipline from route to building or area searches. Once at a level that was considered proficient, the
team began test week. Test Week involved a rigorous few days battling through some cold and snowy conditions, culminating in the full team qualifying. A great result for C Squadron! The Squadron went on two weeks Easter leave with everything prepared and ready for the Mission Rehearsal Exercise which would begin on our final weekend of leave.
Another highlight was the visit to the Squadron by Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex
officers. Another highlight was the visit to the Squadron by Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex. On the penultimate day of the MRX, the Countess of Wessex saw the Squadron deal with a mass casualty incident and held a forum to discuss the impact of sexual assaults against both men and women. It was a sobering experience for all those involved. C Squadron
Rigidi Boo!
grappled with leaving loved ones and the prospect of seven months away from home. However, everyone took it in their stride and worked on novel solu- tions to endure the hours, from fitness to purchasing the last-minute items they needed for their tour. It was with great relief for all members of the Squadron when they were taken from Linton- on-Ouse to RAF Brize Norton for their onward flight to Mali. On several occa- sions, groups were taken from Yorkshire to the flight line, only to be turned around due to a fault with the flight. One such flight made it to the Mali border before being turned around back to the UK! However, gradually the flights success- fully arrived in Mali, bringing C Squadron personnel out into the Sahel and by the end of May everyone was in theatre. The Squadron was ready for its operation – Operation NEWCOMBE 2.
The operational tour for C Squadron can be split down into three distinct phases: the first few months were occupied with accounting for equip- ment, handover and the familiarisation patrols; the second being the operations during the height of the wet season; and the final section being the more complex patrols and the end of tour.
The Advanced Party were able to deploy on the first patrol, which was a 3-day handover patrol between A Squadron, The Light Dragoons and C Squadron, QDG. It was an excellent opportunity for these early arrivals to understand the ground, the environment and the threat, as well as acclimatising people to the intense heat. Concurrently, the rest of the Squadron finished their Reception, Staging, and Onward Inte- gration (RSOI) phase before achieving the required training objectives to enable them to be ready to deploy. These
The Mission Rehearsal
Exercise was the final hurdle
for the Squadron before
being able to deploy to
Mali. It was primarily run
by the Mission Ready Training Centre, who aim to challenge, test and advise all deploying subunits to ensure they are at the required standard for operations. C Squadron embarked on their exercise on the final Saturday of their Easter Leave, which was a tough sell to all members of the Squadron. The first week included low level training at crew, section and troop level, gradually escalating towards an integration exercise with the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment (The Poachers) and the respective Light Mechanised Infantry Company and support echelon. Once this inte- gration had taken place, the task force then opened itself up to the assess- ments, with the main exercise taking place. Throughout a ten-day period, the Squadron and task force were tested on every situation which we could poten- tially face in Mali. This varied from route reconnaissance, detention operations, interaction with the media, casualties, mounted and dismounted patrolling, and human terrain analysis. Of great satisfac- tion to the entire Squadron, despite the best efforts of the directing staff, they were unable to target us with weapons or IEDs, testament to the excellent tactics employed by all the soldiers and
had an exceptionally successful exercise and we left fully qualified to deploy on operations.
What followed the MRX was, for most personnel, the hardest part of the entire deployment year. Due to the require- ment to conduct COVID-19 isolation, the majority of the Squadron had a weekend off after the exercise to pack their final bits of kit and say goodbye to loved ones before heading north to Linton-on-Ouse to begin the fourteen days in quaran- tine. Straight off the end of a gruelling pre-deployment pipeline and an arduous exercise, whilst the weekend was welcome, it was also far too short ahead of a seven-month deployment. However, despite these challenges, the Squadron took the next steps with enthusiasm. Sergeant Morgan will forever remember the trip to Yorkshire for another reason as he was denied the chance of a last McDonalds due to an overly cautious Officer Commanding!
The two weeks in quarantine in Linton-on-Ouse can be compared to the Stanford experiment, with all ranks being chaperoned throughout the RAF station to ensure social distancing guidelines were being adhered to. It was a diffi- cult time for everyone as the Squadron