Page 52 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2018

50 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN)
He has been badgering me as Quartermaster to get him a reno- vated ammo storage site which has become one of my priorities during my appointment. As with many defence estates across the country infrastructure is always in need of some tender lov- ing care or money. Even a forlorn and basic building such as an Ammo Bunker needs some funds invested into it which I’m quietly confident will be the case. Corporal Garner also remains in the Quartermaster’s Department and has been busy assisting Corporal Brooks with ammo and the other various accounts held by the Quartermaster’s Department. Both have worked hard of- ten as part of a small team entrusted to ‘do as they ought’ and get the job done as quiet professionals.
I was lucky to have two new soldiers appointed to the depart- ment post Operation TOSCA. Lance Corporal Brookes (no rela- tion to the Corporal Brooks above) and Trooper Henry. These two soldiers are shaping up well and can be seen to get stuck in to get the job done to a high standard. They have been ‘on the shoulders’ of the more experienced operators in the department soaking up all they can. Hopefully this is all the good they can
gather as I start to lean on them and share the work evenly across the department.
There have been challenges during this year due to the wide and varied training the Sabre Squadrons have conducted. It has taken a lot of energy from all supporting elements of the Regi- ment to get the Squadrons what they need, in the right amounts and in the right place and at the right time. All troops within my team have placed their shoulders to the wheel for which I’m very proud. The Regiment now prepares for our next series of exercises and ranges to further hone the skills of those in the Squadrons. As ever the Quartermaster’s Department will be there trying to smooth over issues or delivering ammunition to the local ammo bunker or Magazine. I hand over prior to Sum- mer Leave to my successor who I hope will be able to do a better job than I. I’ll look back at my time as Quartermaster fondly as I’ve learned so much and I daresay will revisit similar problems in my next appointment.
The Quartermaster Technical Department
The Quartermaster Technical department has seen a number of changes in personnel during a very busy 2018. Farewells were said to Captain Jones who has moved down the road to take over as Quartermaster. We issued off account Staff Sergeant ‘Stumpy’ Cholerton who has moved to pastures new, taking over as the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment (RACTR) SQMS in Bovington. Following these departures, we welcomed Captain Ryan, the new but slightly older QM(T), who has posted in from RACTR having relinquished his post as Officer Com- manding Normandy Squadron. Later in the year we saw the re- turn of Sergeant Bailey (you can never keep a good man away from Tech) and the arrival of Lance Corporal Morgan and Troop- er Bragg. The remainder of the department’s personnel stayed the same, with the Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant (T) Mr Pook firmly in the seat, having joined the team early in the year. With the team now fully embedded, we soon got into the nitty gritty of overseeing and coordinating all things G4 for the Regi- ment’s deployment to Operation TOSCA 28 and C Squadron’s deployment to British Army Training Area Suffied (BATUS). This was under the watchful eye of Staff Sergeant Nunn, Cor- poral Smith, Sergeant Davies, Corporal Gooding, Corporal Hill and Private Jones.
Operation TOSCA 28 saw the following elements of the A2 per- sonnel deploy forward; Sergeant Davies, Corporal Hill, Corporal Gooding and Private Jones for the 6-month period. This left us with minimal manning as part of the Rear Operations Group (ROG) which also resulted in the Quartermaster(T) also taking hold the rains within Quartermaster department.
Staff Sergeant Davies (The Staff Sergeant Nunn (What more office is now closed) DMDS), is it home time yet?
Sergeant Smith struggling with the dress code again (Xmas Jumpers) or not!!!!
Whilst the Regiment was deployed, the department started pre- paring for the Logistic Support Analysis and Investigation and the Land Equipment Assurance. This involved assurance visits from 12 Brigade Brigade Operations Warrant Officer (BOWO) and the SO3 Logistic Support. This was a testing time and indi- viduals within the department rose to the challenge; Staff Ser- geant Nunn and Corporal Smith in particular with a keen eye and attention to detail helped facilitate the successful outcome of both assurance inspections that the Regiment achieved.
Sergeant Davies had to cut his tour short in Cyprus and returned on promotion taking over as the departments Equipment Table
RQ(T) (Who are you trying to kid) Oops, Corporal Gooding (Reverse)
MJ