Page 79 - Mind, Body and Spirit No. 105 2021/22

12th Regiment Royal Artillery, specialising in delivering vital Close Support Air Defence to the UK’s manoeuvre forces, providing protection to critical assets from a range of airborne
threats; 12th Regiment is currently juggling a busy battle rhythm whilst providing support to Op CABRIT and Op SHADER.
I have now been assigned to 12th Regt RA for 19 months and it couldn’t be in a better place. The Island, the Regt and most importantly my gymnasium staff are fully supportive of the Operational Requirement and the strive for excellence, which a RAPTCI is committed to hold on a day-to-day basis.
In regard to Physical Training, 12th Regt RA; a non-GCC Regiment, embraces the Army Physical Training System; supporting Future Soldier and optimising physical and mental readiness. Predominantly, utilising the training year 21/22 to prepare for the non-GCC RFT(S); capitalising on strength, aerobic and anaerobic tactical PT-based sessions.
As Op PHOENIX starts to have a driving force on the normalisation of day-to-day business, 12th Regiment was keen to get its Gymnasium facility open and Troops back to level 3 Physical Training. A Foundation Troop was created to allow Service Personnel, who joined the Regt through lockdown, opportunities and career courses. Furthermore, my team supported a robust Workplace Induction Programme (WIP) package which included Command Tasks, Obstacle Course training and Physical Training throughout.
As the training year progressed and the request for AAPTI assistance from the Sub Units within the Regt increased, I was fortunate to receive 3 allocations for the AAPTI course throughout the year; LBdr Bye; LBdr Hawes and Gnr Currey, who was the first Female AAPTI in the Regt in over 12 years, all successfully qualified.
The Commanding Officers intent was to zone into level 1 PT, Medically Limited Deployable (MLD) and Medically Non
Deployable (MND) Service personnel, in particular those with poor Body Composition Measurement results. I held a 5-day consolidated DOFit course, with assistance from Dr Patricia Davey PhD RD, Senior Dietitian, DNAS. The 5-day course enthused SP to set diet and fitness goals to achieve throughout the year. The course had an immediate effect on SP lifestyles, with healthy weight losses and DOFit Physical PT sessions largely populated across the board. Sport within the Regt was also one of the Commanding Officer’s priorities, which was fully backed by the Sports Presidents, OIC’s and assistants with help from a recent substantial Unit Sports Fair delivered in the gymnasium.
As I was embracing the busy Regt battle rhythm and the family network on the Island, I volunteered to run the station family’s day. Normally, an annual event but due to recent restrictions, it had not been conducted for over 2 years. Having 3 children of my own I knew exactly how I was going to approach the task. I put everything I had into the planning of the whole event, with my Gymnasium staff committee. The day was packed with activities; horse riding, zorbing, bouncy castles, face painting, magicians, Punch and Judy, dancers, archery, Inter Unit TOW comps, parachute display team, motor bike display teams, guard mounts, cultural shows, escape rooms, live bands - you name it, it was there! Giving the continuous Covid -19 mitigations it was challenging but a very rewarding task. There were over 2000 SP and their families in attendance which made the event even more spectacular.
Towards the latter part of the year, I provided support to the Region by coordinating and implementing Weak and Non-Swimmer Concentrations; specifically, a 4-day swim training package to those requiring the necessary skill set to successfully pass the Military Swimming Test (MST). The concentrations are already at maximum capacity with the intent to run at least 4 every training Year.
Finally, what a better way to finalise the year than with a Commanding Officer’s Christmas Challenge.
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12TH REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY
CLOSE SUPPORT AIR DEFENCE
SSgt (SSI) D Woolridge RAPTC
16 REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY
SSgt (SSI) K Feldsmann RAPTC
Iam now into my second year with the Regiment and the pace has been just as ferocious as it was in my previous year. What is a breath of fresh air is how we can almost look back on the
pandemic as a distant memory as normality slowly comes back into daily business.
The Regiment has had to juggle multiple deployments whilst transitioning to the new equipment, Sky Sabre. This year saw the Commanding Officer welcome the new Air Defence missile launcher into service and saying goodbye to old Rapier equipment. Sky Sabre is now fully established in the Falkland Islands and is soon to be deployed to Eastern Europe. We are currently on the final preparations to deploy east next month, so the Regiment has been conducting build up training and MATTs in preparation.
One of the main challenges after the pandemic has been to return the soldiers back to pre-pandemic fitness levels. What we are seeing is people’s Aerobic Fitness is not what it once was. This
Training for avalanche procedures