Page 97 - QDG Vol. 9 No. 2 CREST

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards 95
to do. The race came with massive highs and lows. Skippering a team through the Southern Ocean at its most angry were one of the best; the low came when he was hospitalised at the race start in New Zealand after their boat was hit by another yacht – the delay meant they were always playing catch up, frustrating when they managed to finish 3rd on one leg.
After this he was posted to London as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer, effectively a Defence Attaché without portfolio. This saw him variously in Africa at 6 hours notice to organise a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation out of Ivory Coast and in Nepal for three weeks when India and Pakistan were having a spat in 2002 and Nepal was in the downwind fall out zone. Other highlights were setting up the DA post in Uzbekistan; walking into Afghanistan over the Bridge of Friendship; and driving from Baku, Azerbaijan to Tiblisi, Georgia and then flying to Moscow to give the Embassy a briefing before a night at the Bolshoi – Nick always ensured that culture was factored into any trip.
Nick was then 2IC Devon and Dorsets in Ballykinler and Catterick, taking them through the first of several amalgamations into what is now the Rifles before a spell at CATAC in Warminster. Promoted to Lt Col in 2008 he went to Baghdad to work in the main US HQ on reconciliation and managed to stay in the Middle East with a family posting to Kuwait in 2009 to teach at their Staff College. No sailing this time, but an excuse to buy a speed boat with two indecent engines on the back. He also managed to visit the date palm which was the last position A Sqn cleared back in 1991.
Having wangled a year in Fontainebleau on the Long Riding Course after the Gulf War, Nick had not only improved his riding but also his French, both of which he now put to good use during four very happy years at the French Cavalry School in Saumur. He escaped a subsequent rather dull job in Warminster by deploying to MINUSMA, Mali as Chief J3/5 for 11 months. Back in his element: planning operations and speaking French, Nick was able to set the early work in place for what is now Camp Bagnold.
Faced with the prospect of a final posting at HQ Field Army in Andover, somewhere he had avoided his entire career, Nick opted to leave early and head off to work for the UN – who he had first served with back in Bosnia in 1995 on Op Grapple when one of his responsibilities had been to run a project mapping the various ceasefire lines to identify where unmarked mines were laid.
Looking back, it would be hard to find anyone who managed in an Army career to get in as much riding, sailing and soldiering – and avoid as many staff jobs.
HFAS
The Sandhurst Trust is the Army Officers’ charity and is the alumni organisation for all serving and retired Army officers.
JOIN TODAY
www.sandhursttrust.org Telephone 01276 412 000
• The Trust fosters an esprit de corps
and enduring sense of belonging and connection through reunions and events.
• We sustain the ethos and preserve the heritage of RMAS through events and guided tours.
• By holding events for Trust Members with military and business leaders and through the publishing of occasional papers we promote the understanding and development of leadership beyond the Academy.
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The Cavalry and Guards Club 127 Piccadilly London W1J 7PX
The Cavalry and Guards Club has one of the finest Edwardian buildings in London with stunning views of Green Park that is ideal for:
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