Page 80 - Mercian Eagle 2014

Army Reserve
Maj IA Bond MERCIAN LT MD Styles MERCIAN Lt CE Howell MERCIAN Lt MA Jones MERCIAN Gapped
OC
2IC
Pl Comd
Pl Comd
CSM
CQMS
Pl Sgt
Pl Sgt
Regular Staff
SPSI WO2 D Roberts
PSI Sgt R Brooke
FTRS/NRPS Staff
PSAO Capt S Condliffe MERCIAN QPSI CSgt D Roberts 85
CSgt J Griffiths Sgt P Minor
Sgt M Chambers
78
Dragon Company
D Company has had a successful year and has continued its commitments to operations and battalion events. With a new Officer Commanding at the helm, D Company restructured and began
to rethink its strategy on getting new recruits through the door. The ongoing challenge of balancing technical trainers with instructional periods is always difficult, especially as key personnel are in great demand for operational commitments.
As Afghanistan draws down for the Army Reserves we find our soldiers deployed to areas such as Cyprus on Op Tosca and on Short Term Training Teams (STTTs) in Uganda. However, D Company is never short of volunteers for operations.
In August Lt Rawji and Sgt Minor deployed to Uganda as part of
4 MERCIAN’s STTT, teaching and instructing over 2,000 members of the Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) for a two-week period.
Remembrance weekend, 2013, was commemorated by D Coy with a visit to the National Arboretum at Lichfield, followed by the Remembrance Sunday parade at Crewe Cenotaph. 2Lt Howell also had the honour of laying a wreath alongside soldiers and Officers of 1 MERCIAN in his home town, Congleton.
For the festive celebrations of 2013,
D Coy held its annual Christmas Ball at Mottram Hall Country Club in Cheshire. At
D Company Christmas Function
the event, Wendy Dean, D Coy’s AO, was awarded with a free suite for the night in recognition of her award for her efforts in support of the Coy throughout the year.
It was February when D Company welcomed home those deployed on Op Tosca who had been attached to 17 Port and Maritime in the MFR Company. D Company has continued with its recruitment surge. With many changes in the recruitment world, D Company has established one dedicated Recruit Retention Mentoring Team (RRMT) with Lt Styles at the helm, Cpl Stonier,
LCpl Willock and Pte Sparks and Britton provide continued support to events across the Company AO, resulting in a strong cohort of applicants eager to join the Company. With four soldiers attending Midlands Challenge this year and another 25 applicants in the pipeline, recruitment is going from strength to strength, and only time will be the test.
D Company said a fond farewell to Capt John Tyson who retired after 22 years as PSAO at D Company, and has welcomed into the post Capt Condliffe, formerly of the Royal Engineers, who is settling in well.
As D Company prepares itself for the Battalion annual training exercise in the UK for the first time in two years, the Company has re-cocked and is aiming towards conventional green training in order to
hit the ground running in the Live Fire packages in joint exercise with 2 MERCIAN.
D Company Officers Remember the fallen
The Company has continued to excel with promotions at all levels: congratulations to Cpl Wheeler, Cpl Stonier, LCpl Mottershaw, LCpl Sparks, LCpl Britton and LCpl Rook and a special mention towards LCpl Sparks who attained the top student award on his PJNCO Cadre.
Furthermore, with the restructuring
of D Company into one location, some obstacles have been encountered, but
with clear leadership from the new OC, Maj Bond, the transition is firmly underway. With all training now taking place in Stoke and all recruitment efforts being directed this way, we look forward to growing and developing as Dragon Company in a single location over the next 12 months.
LCpl Mottershaw brings his latest addition to the Christmas Function
Lt Rawji making friends as usual – Uganda – August 2013
THE MERCIAN EAGLE