Page 26 - Mercian Eagle 2014

OC
RAO
Det Comd RAWO
Maj D Hallam Capt Gutierrez Capt Wilson
WO2 (SQMS) Aling
24
REAL LIFE SUPPORT TO 3RD UK DIVISION –
EXERCISES IRON RESOLVE AND IRON TRIANGLE Major Taylor
After a long and gruelling PDT followed by a demanding operational tour in Afghanistan, one could be forgiven that returning home would be the catalyst to shift focus to a well earned period of post operational leave and a calmer 6 months than the previous 18; sadly not.
Prior to departure on POTL the phone call came in from Brigade. Support was to be delivered to 2 large, divisional exercises. The latter would be linked to an even bigger multi-national exercise known as Arcade Fusion. I departed onto POTL still not fully understanding the gravitas of the exercise or the work involved; but I soon would be.
Exercise Iron Resolve
The first exercise saw the deployment
of the Divisional Headquarters training
in a deployed Div HQ on Barton Stacey Training Area. The task was enormous and although the exercise was run in the UK, it turned out to be quite expeditionary. 750 men were placed into a tented village; the water was pumped in over 600m to the field kitchen and ablutions and there was
no sewer system, so the waste had to be containerised before being removed from site. Power was provided by generators and the great British weather added significant challenges throughout. But the greatest task of all, was the constant need to massage the egos of the very needy staff officers, who would become completely bamboozled when the power would fail or the water was cold!
C Coy were allocated the task for this exercise and set about establishing a fantastic camp. Guided by WO2 (RQMS) Davison (Dava), WO2 (CSM) Hopkins and his company built the camp in a little over
a week. WO2 Malone (Bugsy), then the CQMS, must have thought he was back
in depot as he was pulled from pillar to
post by Dava in the creation of the site.
The arrival of the divisional staff officers heralded the start to the exercise which came in several waves. The training
element allowed the GOC and the COS
to shape their headquarters’ staff whilst gently easing them into this semi-austere environment. C Coy however were living it up in the tented village and those soldiers from Liverpool were revelling in the social housing uplift they had received! Visitors flooded to the site and on one day alone
13 ‘stars’ passed through the gate. Despite a no-saluting policy within the site, WO2 Hopkins still managed to secure the longest salute as the GOC exited his tent at more than 150m away and secured with it the butt snorkelling award. C Coy did a fantastic job but as the exercise came to an end,
the site was loaded into more than 60 ISO containers and moved to RAF St Mawgan for the next exercise.
Exercise Iron Triangle
A month later the RQ and I departed to
RAF St Mawgam to begin the erection of
the site for Exercise Iron Triangle. Linked to Arrcade Fusion, it exercised the divisional headquarters subordinate to the ARRC’s exercise; multinational forces added to the complexities of the real life support. Bugsy had since been promoted to WO2 and now found himself as the CSM of B Coy who was tasked to provide the RLS for this exercise. Rumour has it Bugsy was given a re-show; I can find no evidence to disprove this!
We arrived to see the Signals Regiment running after their tents down the runway as
the wind blew violently in from the Atlantic. A new plan was quickly initiated and B Coy set to task. Within a week, the site was erected along with over 100 ISO containers and 30 tonnes of sand. Staff Nicholson had a new team of chefs but still managed to put out course after course of Michelin starred food and B Coy hosted the eastern European female kitchen hands with total professionalism. The AGC Detachment had managed to find time to do some clerical work in between their computer chess games and Bugsy kept the medical centre busy with self inflicted injuries. In great infantry fashion, 5 guys jumped the fence and became affectionately known as the Newquay 5 after a night on the tiles didn’t go according to their plans. During the exercise we found many discoveries:
• There is something needier than a British staff officer; it’s a French one.
• Cpl Godkin has no concept of time; today actually means tomorrow.
• Aural exposure to Pte P must be limited to 20 minutes in any one day.
• Bugsy still needs another re-show!
All in all the 2 exercises were a proper
lick-out for the guys involved. That said, it was a great opportunity to show case the considerable talents of our soldiers to a divisional headquarters and multi-national partners. To a man they were fantastic
and made the 2 exercises so much more enjoyable. Accolades flooded in post exercise and the men deserved every
great word which has been spoken about them. In particular to the RQMS, who, like exceptional Sergeants Mess members are, worked tirelessly behind the scenes making ‘stuff’ happen.
the role of Regimental Accountant. He
now heads off his final tour of duty having completed a full 22 years service. His relentless optimism, awful sense of humour and superb Elvis impersonations will not be forgotten in a hurry.
The Battalion’s arrival in Bulford has
not resulted in any let up in tempo as the Unit segues straight into the process of converting from LI to AI. A hectic training schedule in the build up to BATUS next year is keeping everybody busy with extensive driver training taking place alongside numerous exercises all combining to ensure the Detachment are kept busy.
1 MERCIAN AGC (SPS) DETACHMENT 2013/14
This year has welcomed a great deal of change not only for the wider Battalion but also for the SPS Detachment which has experienced significant staff churn since
my arrival in May. We bid a fond farewell
to the RAO, Capt Sal Circo, who had skilfully led the Detachment through testing times including an operational deployment on HERRICK. The newly arrived RAWO, WO2 (SQMS) Paula Aling, experienced something of a baptism of fire managing the Detachment for 5 weeks whilst I attended JOTAC but comfortably rose to the challenge. Shortly after I returned from JOTAC, I relocated to Bulford in advance
of the main body to act as 2i/c to Major Porteous who was coordinating the Unit move. Shortly afterwards we were fortunate to welcome the new RAO, Capt Debbie Gutierrez, who arrived with a formidable reputation from 1RRF.
The restructuring of the Regiment
and Unit move from Catterick has seen everybody within the Battalion putting in some very long hours but few more so
than the juniors within the Detachment who worked tirelessly to make the entire process as smooth and painless as possible. The Coy HRAs in particular deserve some praise for their role as they often worked late
hours performing very repetitive tasks to ensure personnel were moved, tracked and administrated correctly. During the heat of the Unit move, the Detachment also found time to enter two teams into the annual Triple Crown March and Shoot Competition at Worthy Down and were unlucky to only come away as runners up. I will say no more in my foreword as I wouldn’t want to steal Pte Lang’s thunder.
Sadly we also bid farewell to Sgt Taylor who served the Battalion admirably in
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