Page 11 - KRH Year of 2021 CREST

Troop’s hangar with BG HQ ChoCing between the tank park and the Tidworth driver training area. The first day of the exercise was dominated by visit from GOC 3 (UK) Div, but once it got going it proved to be a useful opportunity to test circuits with our higher HQ despite the limitations of the virtual training environ- ment. It was also the first time the newly appointed Commander of 12 Brigade, Brigadier Mike Cornwell visited the BG and set the conditions for the Officers Mess to host both Brigade staff and members of the Battlegroup.
On returning from summer leave, the focus of most of the Regiment became Ex IRON STORM 2. The KRH BG was the primary training audience for the exercise and D Squadron would be providing the OPFOR tank squadron as part of the 1 YORKS BG, as well as range safety for the Live Fire phase in Castlemartin. August was all about vehicle and gunnery preparation before we loaded the Tank Transporters once again for Castlemartin. The exercise had three main phases, a mounted Combined Arms Live Fire package in Castlemartin, a tactical engagement exercise phase on Salisbury Plain and a synthetic optimisation phase in the Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (CATT) in Warminster. The live fire package was two rotations of two weeks for the Squadron/ Company pairings, in which they conducted their annual Troop and Platoon Assessments before moving onto a Combined Arms exercise under BGHQ with Artillery and Air Defence firing in support. The manoeuvre area was the entirety of the range tem- plate south of the ammunition bunker and range towers, with the BG (-) advancing East to West over 3-day missions and two-night missions. Clearly, the movement had to be heavily scripted, but it still allowed the BG (-) to test its C2 and technical procedures in a live fire scenario. The BATUS (now known as the Combat Ready Training Centre) staff wringed every drop of training benefit out
of the training area and did a fantastic job throughout. After the second Squadron/Company group had completed their final live fire defensive action, the focus switched to recovering the battle- group from West Wales and projecting it onto Salisbury Plain. BG HQ were assessed in their planning and execution of the March back to Wiltshire; however, it could never have been anything more than the usual administrative move due to the reliance on civilian heavy lift and a training fleet model. Once set in a Forward Assembly Area, under the shadow of Sidbury Hill, the 2:2 BG comprising hundreds of armoured vehicles was a truly impressive sight and played host to a visit from the Secretary of State for Defence, The Hon Ben Wallace MP, who had the pleas- ure of meeting the soldiers of the Battlegroup and sharing a Lamb Tagine with the QM(T). Due to unforeseen events well outside of the Regiment’s control, the exercise was curtailed and hastily moved into CATT. After two weeks in the simulators the KRH BG assumed the role of the Lead Armoured Battlegroup (LABG).
Much of November was spent rehabilitating the fleet after 7 weeks on exercise. With COVID restrictions relaxed for major mess events, the Warrant Officers and Sergeants Mess held another excellent Ramnuggar Ball and later joined the Officers Mess in Scotland for a week of field sports on Ex CULLODEN HAWK.
After some relatively sporty short notice support to training tasks (SET) were given to the Regiment in the run up to Christmas, all looked forwards to the final sprint towards the Christmas leave finish line. The year thankfully ended in its usual fashion; the Corporals and Troopers played one another in the Brackenbury Trophy whilst the Officers and WO & Sgts Mess hosted one another for carols.
The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars 9
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