Page 48 - MERCIAN Eagle 2020

Light Aid Detachment
LCpl Dennison
During the third week of March 2020, COVID-19 cases in Cyprus shot up causing the President of Cyprus to
call for an island wide lockdown. This immediately had implications for us with regards to work, and we now found ourselves having to establish a plan in order to maintain 2 MERCIAN’s aging fleet of vehicles and weapon systems!
‘Work from Home!’ was the direction from the President, however we soon realised this was not going to be possible if 2 MERCIAN were to keep up with their commitments. To that end, the AQMS formulated a plan to split the LAD into
small fitter sections. These sections consisted of a Senior, 2 VMs and an inspector, and were rotated weekly.
This plan allowed us to reduce physical contact within the LAD as well as maintain the vehicle availability thus maintaining operational effectiveness.
Throughout this challenging period work was consistent but included some ‘fast-balls’ which needed attention. Land Rovers tasked throughout made up the bulk of the workload. The VM’s on duty had to be flexible and adaptable in repairing these vehicles ensuring the guard force and RLS could maintain
throughout.
Furthermore, we had to conduct
our own personal training due to the closures of gyms and social distancing restrictions. HQ company’s STRAVA page was created, meaning we could upload our exercises but also take part in ‘fun’ challenges set by the PTIs.
This continued for a few months until the COVID-19 measures were relaxed. It was good to eventually have the full team back and for work to continue as normal – well as normal as it gets during this crazy pandemic!
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AGC (SPS) Detachment
Lt L Kelly
The 2 MERCIAN SPS Detachment has recently undergone a large churn in staff, with WO2 Jase Moore coming in as RAWO, Sgt Erin Halsall as Sys Coord, Sgt Mia Gallagher as Regtl Acct, and Sgt Kristian Duffield as SSA, along with 6 new Ptes and JNCOs from Phase 2 trg.
The main effort for the SPS Detachment this year has been balancing the continuous support to the Cyprus operational commitments and ensuring the Bn was
G1 ready for the Unit move during a period of uncertainty involving ever-changing
COVID-19 measures which needed to be adhered to. Concurrently, the Det Comd,
Lt Liam Kelly, and the IHUB team had a chance to exercise the deployed IHUB during mini-CAST which took place in the Troodos mountains and saw BHQ run through several challenging planning and execution cycles in preparation for CAST(N). The IHUB team excelled throughout, with Ptes Alexandria Groves and Ismaila Ceesay supporting BHQ with OSW production and distribution, electronic file management, security and R2s. Lt Kelly maintained
The Triple Crown Challenge is the AGC’s annual inter-corp military competition
oversight of the IHUB and also managed the RFI tracker, as well as assisting as part of a COA development team.
With the last main body flight landing
in early December, the Unit move can be labelled as a success with only external factors triggering slight adjustments to the initial plans. The focus now swiftly switches to supporting the Bn on both CAST and
Ex ASKARI STORM, which will provide the Detachment with challenges and training opportunities very few have experienced following their time in Cyprus.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE