Page 137 - Mind, Body and Spirit No. 105 2021/22

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JOINT SERVICE MOUNTAIN TRAINING WING & SOLDIER DEVELOPMENT WING (HALTON)
Captain (MAA) G Maslin RAPTC
Well, the clue’s in the title, Ripon Wing closed; Halton Wing open with all members of the team re-located closer to Halton Training Camp, Lancaster. As I write this article (Mar 22), all Halton Wing staff are temporarily squatting in some old building awaiting the keys for the brand-new purpose built AT Wing. When this goes to print, we “should” be fully embedded smelling the fresh paint of a
multimillion-pound, 15-year project
that I had the pleasure of naming. The Caverna Building was the “obvious” choice! (Some old boy tells me that this project has been talked about since “77”).
Over the past 12-months, the Team have worked extremely hard to gain critical career qualifications, deliver training courses and the cave concentration in the Dales. Additionally, we all rolled up our sleeves to pack the entire contents of the Ripon Wing into 7 ISO containers in prep for the unit move to Lancaster (Dec 20). A herculean effort that deserves praise.
Activity hanger
Out with the old and in with the new
Single living accommodation
The Caverna Building – JSMTW & SDW (H) Headquarters
We now have the capacity for 48 students thanks to the brand- new single living accommodation. Students will benefit from a newly refurbished specialist indoor training activity centre with a state-of-the-art single rope techniques frame, climbing wall and caving simulation tunnels. Best of all, the Western Dales and Lake District is now on our doorstep.
SOLDIER DEVELOPMENT WING - HALTON
Sgt (SI) JB Bullard RAPTC
SDW(H) saw the arrival of Sgt (SI) Bullard from JSMTC(Indefatigable) in early September 2021 and in turn the departure of Sgt (SI) Murgatroyd of which is
currently progressing through his resilience margin before joining JSMTC(H) in September 2022. Training delivery was presented with many challenges due to COVID 19, but the team adapted and were able to deliver adventurous training packages to approximately 4000 ITC recruits. In recognition of these efforts WO2 (QMSI) Mills RAPTC received the Rodgers
Trophy for enhancing the prestige of the RAPTC through his efforts in AT.
On top of the team’s efforts this year, they have managed their time effectively to continue with professional development. WO2 Mills returned to a Scottish winter and successfully passed his Winter Mountaineering Leader and Sgt Bullard has recently passed a number of qualifications as he continues his development in AT.