Page 49 - RADC Bulletin 2022

reassured me it would be an easy job and
to relax and enjoy the parade, as nothing untoward ever happens. With his calming words still ringing in my ears I set about the task given to me and found it very enjoyable, interacting with the public and taking in the
grand surroundings of Horse Guards Parade. For the parade the Chief Usher positioned himself at the entrance to Horse Guards
and I positioned myself at the bottom right corner of the square near the Foreign
Office. With all the spectators seated and
the parade under way, there were suddenly some screams from the vicinity of the stand
I was positioned at. I ran up the steps to investigate and found that two spectators had fallen through the stand and sustained injuries. The medical team were alerted, and they swiftly dealt with the casualties. I then had to get on the radio and inform control
of the situation – the former promptly asked me to resend my report. Apparently, this had never happened before, though fortunately it had been planned for so the response on the part of all involved was swift and extremely professional. At the end of the parade the Chief Usher was surprisingly complimentary about my handling of the situation and asked if I had enjoyed it. I assured him I had, but that I hoped the next two parades would be less eventful.
For the final two parades we had Prince William taking the salute and Prince Charles (now King Charles III) taking the salute for the Queen as she was having mobility issues at the time. It was a real honour for me to have been able participate in such august and historic occasions, not least because they proved to be the last of their kind in Her Majesty’s 70-year reign. In addition I gained a newfound respect for all those soldiers involved, having to stand still for long periods and then switch back on to carry out some very complex drill manoeuvres: I must just hope they never have to watch a PQO pass- out parade at Sandhurst.
Military Assistant to Director Defence Healthcare
Major Verity Brown
In my third year as an SO2 in Primary Medical Care I was honoured to be asked to consider moving at speed to be Military Assistant (MA) to Director Defence Healthcare (Dir DHC), AVM Rich Withnall. One virtual interview and two weeks later I was in position and ready to assist the 2*.
Being an MA is always something that interested me but I didn’t think it was the
sort of job available to Dental Officers so never considered I would be able to do it. However, my background in DPHC HQ and dentists’ knack of problem solving proved helpful and I was able to get up to speed with 2* issues relatively quickly.
The role of MA is well known to be a challenging one, but fortunately I’m quite partial to a challenge. I spent 10 months in the role and I honestly don’t know how anyone could do that for a full posting of two years! There were many an early morning and late night preparing for visits, conferences and meetings. One of the personal highlights from my time in role was getting to meet DPHC colleagues around different centres and hear their successes and challenges while they deliver healthcare to Defence. Whist living out of suitcases is not usually my idea of fun, the opportunity to travel to so many locations such as Scotland, Cyprus, Madrid and NATO
HQ in Brussels, made it worthwhile. Personal highlights include meeting the Surgeon General of Ukraine at a NATO meeting
and attending the Invictus Games. I would encourage any of my fellow DOs to consider this as a role well within their grasp.
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