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1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
The QDG
Heritage
Trust
Exercise TRUMPET DANCE, Fort Lewis, Washington State, 1984
In April 1984, 5th Troop C Squadron was sent to Washington State as the recce troop for the 2nd Battalion, the Light Infantry on Exercise Trumpet Dance. This was a live firing exercise conducted jointly with the US Army. We had instructions to report at Brize Norton, where we were to catch a VC10 to McChord Air Force base, refuelling along the way at Gander. McChord is adjacent to Fort Lewis which was to be our destination.
Following its return from Beirut in August 1983, C squadron was reorganised and 5th troop became the support troop. At the time of leaving for Washington, Sgt McWilliams had just gone on his resettle- ment course and Danny Mead was the senior Troop Corporal. I requested that he be promoted for the exercise as I didn’t want the NCOs of the 2LI taking advan- tage of us. This was duly done. And thank goodness we did, as Danny was more than able to hold our ground with the LI.
We broke the journey at Gander Inter- national Airport in Newfoundland, which was built as a transatlantic refuelling station in 1938, when airplanes didn’t have the range to cross the Atlantic in one haul. After a couple of hours wandering around the empty airport, we continued on to McChord where we were picked up by coach to go to Fort Lewis.
Fort Lewis is a huge site of 87,000 acres, 9 miles southwest of Tacoma in Washington State and was home to the 9th Infantry Division. It was a town within itself and had every facility imaginable, from sports facilities to cinemas, bowling alleys and restaurants.
It soon became pretty clear that we were not on 2LI’s radar and the Company Commander of the company we were attached to, basically told me to go and do my own thing. I had spotted a sign as we drove through the camp announcing the lines of the 5th Cavalry. Any knowledge I had of the US Cavalry had come from the diet of cowboy films I had watched as a child and in these, the 5th Cavalry always appeared as the good guys! So, on the first morning, whilst the troop were in one of the restaurants, I found their RHQ and walked into the Adjutant’s office. As I saluted on entry, I didn’t quite anticipate the reaction; clearly, a British Cavalry Officer in barrack dress was not a regular appearance and the Adjutant was astonished. I introduced myself to him and without taking his eyes off me, he pressed an intercom and said:
“Boys, get your arses in here now.
You’ve gotta see this. There is someone from the Queen’s Dragoons Guards (sic) in my office.”
This announcement brought around five men crashing through the adjacent door, who then just stood and stared. I introduced myself again and told them that we were not required by the LI, and could we attach ourselves to them instead? They looked at each other, then back at me. The Adjutant responded that they were off on exercise tomorrow and that I should assemble the troop and we would get a briefing, then draw stores and chow. So that was that.
I went back to the restaurant and found the troop being chatted up by the manag- eress and her daughter, a well-known duo. As a troop we walked over to the 5th Cavalry RHQ and were ushered into a small lecture hall where we were given a briefing on regimental history. The 5th Cav, known as The Black Knights, had its origins in the Confederate Army and was even commanded by Robert E. Lee. They fought in most of the major Civil War battles, including Gettysburg, and at the time the regimental battle honours included action in the American Indian wars, the Spanish-American War, the Philippines and the Pacific theatre, Korea and Vietnam (subsequently Bosnia, Desert Storm, and Iraq have been added to this list.) They prided themselves on their Southern manners and their Motto: First to Fight. But no longer on horse- back, they were Air Cav, predominantly in Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopters.
The advance party was leaving the following day to the Yakima training area. This was high desert covering 500 square miles with sagebrush, volcanic formations, dry gullies and large rock outcroppings. With its vast flat valleys separated by intervening ridges, it was perfectly suited to large-scale mecha- nized forces. We would fly out in three days' time by Huey.
We were introduced to their Gunnery Sergeant (Gunny) who was the equiv- alent of the RSM. Gunny led us to the stores, and we were equipped for the coming exercise. He took an instant shine to OCdt Pitman’s mackintosh which, for some reason, he had brought with him. For the next two weeks, he was harassed by the Gunny:
“Hey Tony, how about your raincoat?”
We suggested bartering a dress Stetson but sadly, that was a trade too far. That evening, the Adjutant invited myself, Anthony Pitman and Danny Mead to join the officers and the Gunny in the Officers’ Club. There we were enter- tained with beer and popcorn before dinner. As we were enjoying ourselves, ‘our’ company of 2LI officers came in. The Company Commander called me to one side and proceeded to give me a dressing down: how dare I bring a sergeant into the officers’ mess? I had great pleasure in directing him over to the Adjutant and suggesting he take it up with him; as Sergeant Mead had been invited by the Adjutant and as it was the Adjutant’s club,