Page 34 - Mercian Eagle 2014

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The Rebasing, Reorganisation and Return to Role for the 1st Battalion Summer 2014
For the 1st Battalion, Trooping the Colour on 19 September 2014 represented the end of a complex operation to form up as a new unit. The Mercian 2020 Plan was born from the Army 2020 project ordering that the Mercian Regiment shrink and reorganise into 2 Regular and 1 Reserve battalion.
Of all the change programmes within the A2020 portfolio, the Mercians had the most complicated issues to wrestle with. Not least of all as it was determined that this was to take place while much of the 3rd Battalion was in Afghanistan on Op HERRICK 19 and the 2nd Battalion was preparing to deploy to Cyprus on Op TOSCA.
The 2 remaining Regular battalions were to have new homes, in Chester and Bulford. While both locations were already familiar to some of the more senior ranks the burden of moving a unit is usually enough to cause it to cease operational activity for a period of months. 1 MERCIAN was not to have that luxury. Indeed between September 2013 through to Aril 2014 the unit was to
take part in 3 overseas training exercises, 2 divisional training deployments and numerous support tasks.
into 1 MERCIAN. Then a team was posted out of Catterick moving to Chester as part of an advance party to help begin the build up of the new 2nd Battalion.
In April and May 2014, the 1st and 2nd
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
The 1st Battalion was chosen to take on the role of an armoured infantry battalion in the newly reorganised 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade.
With the much of the
manpower coming from
a light role background
it was immediately
clear that those with
armoured experience,
predominantly from
the 3rd Battalion, were
going to have to work
hard to build the unit up to competency.
In the meantime the division of manpower was to take place. The decision was made that the 2 new regular battalions would
be made up of Mercians from across
the whole Regiment. Initially men began trickling back from Germany, posted from 3 MERCIAN’s Op HERRICK 19 Rear Party
Battalions swapped
Then a team was posted out of Catterick moving to Chester as part of an advance party...
manpower, letting those go to Chester to continue their careers as light role infantry soldiers. Others were selected to move to Bulford, either because they volunteered or,
for others it was in recognition that they had skills that would
prove vital to the new armoured battalion. Major Harry Porteous led a team of early movers down to Bulford to work with 1 Royal Anglian, the unit we were to replace
in Picton Barracks. A great deal of activity was necessary to make this site ready to take in the increased manpower and heavy equipment needed by an armoured battalion.