Page 85 - RAPTC Number 102 2018/19

4CS Bn REME is one of the biggest REME Units in the Army. They are continuously providing support to some of the biggest Operations and Exercises within 101 Brigade, including: OP CABRIT (Estonia), EX PRAIRIE STORM (Canada) and OP TEMPERER. Even with these high demands placed on the Battalion, there has still been an abundance of physical and sporting achievements throughout the year.
I have been in the role for the best part of two years now. What’s clear is the Battalion are very busy with continuous deployments and wider Army commitments. As the RAPTCI there is a responsibility to ensure personnel are fully prepared and physically ready when those deployments come around. Implementing a strong physical training programme has been key in inspiring high numbers of fully fit personnel to be ready all year round. Of course, it’s just as important to work with those that are carrying long or short-term injuries and working towards a suitable recovery plan to get them back to full fitness. The programme THOR initiative and new PES has seen an obvious change in the way people are approaching physical training and this stems right from the top to the bottom. Personnel are smarter about their own training and actively seeking advice and knowledge of how to become fitter, stronger and faster. The effect has been tremendous and often contagious across the ranks.
Alongside the physical training aspect, I’ve made it a key priority to offer and provide assistance with both Adventurous Training and Sport. The Battalion has been part of numerous REME and Bde sporting events throughout the year. This has seen the Battalion participating in the Bde festival of sport and the REME festival of sport. In addition, the Battalion has also recently qualified for the Football Crafty Cup Final.
Cross-Country (XC) has always been a key sport within the Battalion. The XC Team recently were invited to be part of the REME Craftsman’s Runners training camp in Keswick, Lake district. The training camp included a mixture of hard running intervals, peak trail runs and physical training lectures. I was fortunate to be the
Army Inter Corps Female Start
Army Inter Corps Male Start
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4 ARMOURED CLOSE SUPPORT BATTALION REME
SSgt (SSI) A Rees RAPTC
SME for the training week and provided knowledge to the runners and helped them progress with their training. The week ends with the Scafell Pike Peak Challenge, which is essentially a run up and down the highest peak in England! All this training produced a massively successful Cross-Country season for the XC Corps team with podium finishes at the Army Inter Corps in the Senior Males, Senior Females, Masters Males and Males Under 23s.
4 CS Bn REME were given the role of hosting and running this year’s Army Inter Corps Cross-Country Championship in February 2019, along with the REME Cross Country Championship in November 2018. The Army wide event saw the top runners from each Corps compete. The conditions couldn’t have been better, with blue skies and sunshine during a snap heat wave early in the year. Overall a brilliantly organised event and a fantastic effort all-round from some of the best runners in the Army. The event finished with the males REME Corps team and the females AMS Corps team finishing in 1st place.
Army Inter Corps Finish
Vehicle Pull