Page 8 - KRH Year of 2021 CREST

6 The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars
Foreword by The Commanding Officer
2021 began with the conclusion of Operation ROSE, Cross Channel Haulier Testing, in Kent. Concurrently the nation was emerging from its post-Christmas lockdown and the was Regiment looking forward to returning to its core warfighting role. We had been selected to form the only Battlegroup in the Division that was attempting to train at the BATUS standard, but in the UK. The training progression began in earnest in March with the first MUDDY HAWK, a Battlegroup Headquarters planning exercise. From there we trained hard for 7 months, and in the biggest Battlegroup configuration the Army has fielded for over 15 years. The aim was to deliver a square Battlegroup com- prising of A and C Squadrons KRH, two companies of Armoured Infantry and the full suite of Artillery, Engineers, Medical and Logistical troops...and even military working dogs. The formed Battlegroup consisted of over 750 soldiers from 14 different units and 300 vehicles, nearly 200 of which were armoured.
We were blessed with a summer of high-octane build-up activity prior to training formally beginning in September. This included time in Castlemartin live firing Challenger 2, alongside Warrior, Scimitar, AS-90 and dismounts; rolling across Salisbury Plain in the height of summer; and fighting simulated troops under the Battlegroup’s Headquarters from the tank park. The UK’s BATUS style exercise was Ex IRON STORM. Broken into three distinct elements: combined arms sub-unit live firing, again in Castlemartin; a field exercise on Salisbury Plain equipped with TES (giant laser quest); and training in a fully synthetic envi- ronment in the Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (CATT) in Warminster. The exercise in its completion spanned eight weeks.
Ex IRON STORM was designed to be a demanding training activ- ity. The output was validating the KRH Battlegroup to be the Lead Armoured Battlegroup of the Joint Expeditionary Force’s Armoured Infantry Brigade. The test was not just tactical, the exercise required the Battlegroup to train on multiple training estates across the UK, concentrating in time and space to deliver the required effect. As such the G4 team had their work cut out. Unfortunately, the day the Battlegroup crossed the line of depar- ture for the field exercise a safety notice was published which temporarily grounded half the armoured fleet. The decision was made to move onto synthetic training earlier than planned and continue where we had left off, just inside the Matrix. The G4 team’s crowning moment was the rapid re-deployment of the Battlegroup off the Plain and into CATT in under 48 hours.
Outside of the Regiment’s core role our junior leaders have con- tinued to excel. Lt Cameron Oldroyd delivered a stand for the Brigade Operational Shooting Competition, something normally well outside of an armoured soldier’s remit! LCpl Sidkar partici- pated in a cross capbadge Gurkha Cambrian Patrol team achiev- ing a Silver Medal, all while flying the KRH flag high. And Cpl Longshaw’s Sniper Team placed third in the Division, a particu- larly impressive achievement given the lack of sniper corporate knowledge in the Regiment.
But it’s not all been about work. We’ve been trying really hard to round off our collective experience of the Army with sport and AT. Our Troop Leaders worked tirelessly to deliver a UK based AT package that saw 350 members of the Regiment take part in 10 different activities over a three week period in the summer. The Regimental Football Team undertook a highly successful football tour of Jersey and the D’Arcy Hall Cup was hotly competed for, with C Squadron emerging victorious with a clean sweep across the sports.
The Regimental Polo Team saw some fine action in the 2021 sea- son. With 10 active players in the Officers’ Mess the team have certainly maximised the opportunity that the Serving Officers Trust offers and crammed in a lot of chukkas. The Regiment seized victory against the Royal Navy to win the Artillery Cup but had slightly less fortune in the finals of the inter-regimental cup, losing to our neighbours and good friends the Queen’s Royal Hussars.
We have been active on the water too, with Hussars forming a central part of the Army Sailing Team on ‘British Soldier’. Maj Henry Foster and Capt George Heelas-Jorgensen put in an epic shift on the Fastnet Race, finishing 36th overall and first of the service’s yachts. The Regimental team went on to win the Dartmouth Regatta, beating the Royal Navy in their back yard. And of note, we have managed to lodge a good number of Troopers on the staff of the Army inshore sailing centre at Thorney Island for the whole season, who will all return to us with much enthu- siasm and, importantly, qualifications. Aside from Sailing, the Waterpolo Team made some waves, getting to the Army Inter- Unit Semi-Finals.
Other extra-curricular activity saw the officers and warrant offic- ers deploy to the highlands for a week of professional develop- ment and sport on Ex CULLODEN HAWK. And a descaled, but successful, winter sports campaign with the Alpine Skiing Team scooping up much of the silverware on offer at the Royal Armoured Corps Championships in Verbier.
Looking forward the programme is full. In 2022 the Regiment will once again form a Battlegroup for deployment to Estonia on Op CABRIT, but this time in what people are calling a ‘tank kill- ing’ configuration. The Battlegroup will have three Squadrons of tanks under command: A and C Squadrons from the KRH and a Squadron of Leopard Tanks from the Danes, as well as a Javelin Anti-Tank Company from the SCOTS GUARDS. Those left behind will be equally as busy, if not more so, with major tank exercises dominating the first half of the year and then Squadron level deployments to Cyprus and California.
2022 is going to be busy, and this, I think reflects a Regiment that is on the top of its game...proving that it continues to be both useful and useable. I will close by repeating the words that HQ Sqn Ldr, Maj Mark Black (awarded MBE in the NYHL!), said on completion of Ex IRON STORM: ‘this is a good year to be a King’s Royal Hussar’.