Page 54 - Mind, Body and Spirit 2015-16

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38 (IRISH) BRIGADE, NORTHERN IRELAND
Capt (MAA) L Dunne RAPTC
38 (Irish) Brigade is an Adaptable Force which has increased in size by nearly 1000 troops. In August
2015, we welcomed The 3rd Battalion the Ri es and 5th Royal Regiment of Fusiliers to the Brigade. Their transfer was seamless and it has taken a bit of operational strain off our other Infantry Battalions The Royal Scots Borderers (1 SCOTS), The 2nd Battalion The Ri es and The 7th Battalion The Ri es. Over the last 12 months these Battalions have been deployed in Afghanistan, Cyprus, Gabon, Sudan and the Congo. If anyone was under the impression the British Army would become stationary with the closure of Operations TELIC and HERRICK, they were very much mistaken, units are now required to be more agile and adaptive than ever.
For those troops that are in Province,
the RAPTCIs and Sports Secretaries
have been extremely proactive and are
laying on plenty of sporting xtures to
keep the troops physically challenged.
Some of our notable results have come
for 5 Army Air Corps (Minor Unit), who placed 2nd in the UK Sports Trophy Award and 2nd in the gruelling Cyprus 4 Day Challenge. Surprisingly one of our most successful sports this year has been volleyball, not surprising was 1 SCOTS, the defending champions went on to take the title again. As a Brigade one of my focuses is to encourage the Reserves to increase their participation in sport. Every 2nd month we schedule events on a Saturday to try and attract those who cannot attend the Wednesday xtures. I’d like to be able to report this is a resounding success, but it is early days and we will continue to endeavour and promote the rewards of sport.
Capt (MAA) L Dunne
The next exciting challenge upon me is to lead a trekking expedition to summit Mount Toubkal (4167m), High Atlas Mountains, Morocco. The intent is to take a party of 13 troops from the Brigade, once we arrive in Morocco we will meet up with 14 members of the Moroccan Armed Forces who will join us for our 14 day expedition. I expect this to be extremely challenging for us all, we will cover over 120km and ascend approximately 6180m. I would like to nish up with expressing a big thank you to all the RAPTCIs and AAPTIs in Northern Ireland, they have been ruthless in their commitment to PD, this is very much appreciated and before I depart from this role I would like to wish them all the very best for their futures.
NORTHERN IRELAND GARRISON SUPPORT UNIT (NIGSU)
Asign of the times, this was my rst time in Northern Ireland (NI) let alone being posted here! On arrival to Lisburn Station it seemed that my assumption of NI was far from accurate. I was expecting the typical green military
WO2 (QMSI) G Maslin RAPTC
presence, movement which would resemble any infantry establishment, wrong; in fact very wrong!
Here we go, the NISGU Adjutant is a C2 grade civil servant, my second in
Fundraising
Remembrance Sunday
Girls for Gold