Page 34 - RAPTC Number 102 2018/19

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Each year the Unit generates Movement Controllers and Postal Courier capability for operations (76 Deployments in 2018), running of the Joint Air Mounting Centre (330 flights
in 2018), enabling the Defence Exercise Programme (316 soldiers across 119 tasks in 2018). Concurrent to the aforementioned, the unit places great emphasise on fully integrating with our partnered Reserve unit 162 Regiment RLC, with Reserve soldiers augmenting in the Regiment this coming training year.
On top of the Operational Support, the Station at South Cerney is thriving and has just recently received a £4m infrastructure uplift, this equated to a purpose-built P&RTC with a separate outbuilding weights room, which will in turn help in the delivery of the APTS in the coming training year.
2018 has seen the Regiment consistently punch above its weight in military skills and sporting competitions. Highlights include the Army’s Machine Gun Trophy at the Army Operational Shooting Competition (OSC); an Army 100 firer and the 104X Operational Shooting Competition winners, these teams were all coached by SSgt (SSI) Hughes RAPTC which is unusual to see an RAPTCI running and delivering an array of numerous ranges and coaching, it just goes to show the diversity of the Corps Instructor.
To summarise, an operationally tuned unit with the right attitude towards PD. The unit now focuses its effort in 2019 on closing BFG and the return of 69 Sqn from Bielefeld to South Cerney.
29 REGIMENT ROYAL LOGISTIC CORPS
SSgt (SSI) S Hughes RAPTC
Peninsular Gymnasium 29 Regt RLC SSgt Hughes Delivery OSC SSgt Hughes OSC
ALLIED RAPID REACTION FORCE SUPPORT BATTALION
WO2 (QMSI) B Bynorth RAPTC
Another fantastic year has passed in ARRC Support Battalion; the relentless pace of life in a Battalion which as the name suggests, supports HQ ARRC, a 3* NATO Headquarters, brings with it an array of opportunities and deployments.
ARRC was originally created as the Rapid Reaction Corps; a Corps sized land force of the Reaction Forces Concept that emerged after the end of the Cold War, with a mission to Redeploy and Reinforce within Allied Command Europe and to conduct missions out of NATO territory. It commanded the Land Forces of NATO’s first ever deployment as part of the IFOR operation in Bosnia in 1995 and was again deployed as the Headquarters, commanding Land Forces during the Kosovo War in 1999. ARRC
took command of the ISAF in Afghanistan 2006 & 2011 before relocating from Rheindahlen to Imjin Barracks in 2015.
HQ ARRC in its present form is a High Readiness (Land) Force HQ, which is prepared to deploy under NATO, EU, coalition or national auspices to undertake Combined and Joint operations.
As I alluded to earlier, the very nature of a Support Battalion means you are likely to encounter many varied and interesting tasks throughout the year. The Battalion has been increasing the amount of Gurkha soldiers, this will continue until the Battalion is about 80% manned with soldiers from Nepal. Included in this we have a Platoon of Royal Gurkha Regiment soldiers who act
ARRC Sp Bn, Winter Mountaineering