Page 23 - KRH Year of 2021 CREST

The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars 21
Level 2 numeracy tests being completed to confirm the SSM’s dodgy accounting
the burger tent. We bid farewell to Gav in May and welcomed Staff Sergeant Steve Maher in. Staff Maher quickly modernised the Squadron by introducing a contactless payment system, deny- ing the Officers the traditional patting of their pockets, and other well-worn excuses for not paying their tick bills!
The end of ranges saw the 2nd and 3rd Troops detach from B Squadron and begin the saga of Ex IRON STORM, becoming 1-3 and 3-3 for the rest of the year. Lieutenant Skrine’s immedi- ate response to this was to pretend that he had caught COVID- 19 and hide in his bedroom for ten days instead of spending a week in CATT. Needless to say, Sergeant Andy White stepped up ably, and the Squadron Leader ensured that a ModNet laptop was delivered to the quarantined Troop Leader with a note: “You aren’t being paid to play Age of Empires, you can do some work on this.”
1st Troop had the enviable task of not being involved with Ex IRON STORM and so were left with a number of strange and inter- esting errands to occupy themselves with whilst the Battlegroup were enjoying bouncing back and forth between Salisbury Plain, Castlemartin, and a large warehouse in Warminster.
The first task was to play enemy for 1st Battalion, Irish Guards. They had deployed straight onto Salisbury Plain from being on exercise in Scotland and were looking rather the worse for wear when they were greeted by their enemy, a Troop of happy Hussars looking forward to running around in the summer sun. The Troop was used as targets for recces, raids, and ambushes. The highlight of the exercise was teaming up with the Irish Guards Pipes and Drums platoon, occupying Imber Village and defend- ing it against a series of company attacks. Naturally, the Troop earned great glory by forcing one infantry company to reshow the attack after being taken apart by the defenders. 1st Troop’s perfor- mance was so strong that they were rewarded with ten days self- isolation after a particularly contagious minibus ride, cementing the Troop’s reputation as THE Covid Troop of the Regiment.
Released from isolation, 1st Troop was immediately and reluc- tantly deployed to act as the SERE School Hunter Guard Force in RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall. With the day of arrival coinciding with the final of the Euros and the prospect of being beaten up in the dark Lieutenant Edward Hill almost had a mutiny on his hands before averting disaster by finding a NAAFI with wide- screen television, warm beer and a supply of microwavable burg- ers. The added luxury of a fruit machine served to compensate for England’s defeat. The first phase of the exercise involved hunt- ing the students as they traversed Bodmin Moor, with the second phase involving them in the interrogation training aspect of the course. It was a truly eye-opening experience for the Troop and
2nd Troop scanning for a pot of gold
one that they all enjoyed. Again, another positive case put the guys into self-isolation for the lull between exercises.
Ex ARIES STORM saw the Squadron playing enemy for 1st Artillery Brigade. Acting as an SF type unit, B Squadron drive around in pick-up trucks and conducted raids against the Gunners before collapsing back to home base in Copehill Down Village, conveniently next to the burger van. Once again, 1st Troop showed their proficiency in hybrid warfare by locating a Gunner’s hide location using only their prowess on Tinder and Snapchat. Hussar!
2nd and 3rd Troops’ 2021 was dominated by the task of bring- ing some much-needed 14th Hussar quality to the KRH BG with 2nd being attached to A Squadron under Lieutenant “Fragiles” Skrine and 3rd over to C under Lieutenant Tom “Maverick” Maddison (he bought a motorbike and thinks he looks cool – this was a self-generated nickname that the Squadron Leader refused to endorse).
The next major event of the year was Ex CRIMSON THUNDER. This TES Exercise was a very successful one for the B Squadron team, losing vehicles exclusively to friendly fire from mem- bers of A Squadron and summary execution by a turncoat Regimental Second-in-Command. To seal the bonds of friend- ship with the Squadron next door, Sergeant White and Corporal McCormick completed a fearsome charity event, completing the Three Peaks and Welsh 3000 in under 48 hours with members of A Squadron.
Ex IRON STORM began with an LFTTX during which 2nd Troop were plagued by vehicle availability issues. A particularly impressive performance was that of Corporal Gent and his crew under the guise of 13D, who were the only CR2 in the BG to
Madders on his bike