Page 22 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

20 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) Mobile Force Reserve Company
Crossing the width of Cyprus, the United Nations controlled buffer zone separating the opposing Turkish and Greek forces is split into three sectors; Sector 1 to the west owned by the Argen- tines, Sector 2 around the city of Nicosia owned by the UK, and Sector 3 to the east owned by a mixed Slovakian and Hungarian force. Working directly to the Commander UN Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP) as part of his Force Troops, the role of the Mobile Force Reserve Company (MFR) appears straightforward: main- tain, at high readiness, two platoons of public order trained troops to support the three sectors in the maintenance of the military status quo and prevention of the recurrence of fighting between the opposing forces along the 180-kilometre buffer zone. Simple. Yet the role also comes with a raft of additional tasks, some more onerous than others – from assisting in proving security of the UN protected area (UNPA) base around the old Nicosia airport, providing drivers for the firefighting truck enabling the UN heli- copters or lifeguards for the UNPA swimming pool, through to providing honour guards for the dignitaries visiting UNFCYP HQ. Nothing particularly taxing, but it made the role far more varied than first sight would suggest. It was also the first tour of its kind: the MFR for Operation TOSCA 28 was the first iteration manned entirely by UK personnel. Previous MFRs have been multi-national and required integration of troops from Argentina, Slovakia, and Hungary under the UK majority command.
It was in the depths of a cold and wet Yorkshire winter that A Squadron were tasked with forming the MFR for the hot and dry tour ahead. For even the slowest of the Squadron it was ob- vious that the weather in the UK would not be ideal for train-
The Air Mobile Force Reserve
Military Skills Competition
ing and would most definitely not mimic what was ahead, but nobody could have predicted the ‘Beast from the East’ and the necessity for hot water bottles as essential kit items. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. The immediate task at hand was re- ORBATing an Armoured Cavalry Squadron into a dismounted Company. The MFR is built around a Company Headquarters with a Company Quartermaster team, and two platoons of thirty troops. Fresh faces from B Squadron were welcomed into the fold to boost the manning to the required numbers, and, as Ma- jor Morrissey departed for pastures new, Major Davies, whilst also continuing as OC HQ Squadron, stepped into the role of OC MFR until Major Duffield arrived at the mid-point of the tour. Captain Clarkson became Company Second in Command with Warrant Officer Class II Weaver in role as Company Sergeant Major and Staff Sergeant Jones arriving as Company Quarter- master Sergeant (CQMS). Lieutenant Parker and Sergeant Free- man headed up 1st Platoon with Corporal Atherley as Platoon Corporal and Lieutenant Callinan [later replaced by Second Lieutenant Reed] and Sergeant Kilburn led 2nd Platoon with Corporal Marsden in support as Platoon Corporal. Corporals Bagguley, Eaton, Gaunt, Kennett, Marshall, Monk, Richards, Siveyer, and Wooderson led the shield teams made up of the remaining MFR personnel whilst A Squadron’s Sergeant Maw- by led the small team that was to work in the UNFICYP HQ Joint Operations Cell (JOC) and Sergeant Smith [now Sergeant France] led the medical team in the UNPA.
Whilst the instructor training took place in late 2017, the main body of troops received their public order training in February
Deputy Commander, 1st United Kingdom Division addresses the MFR