Page 50 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2019

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REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN)
Support Troop concentration, February 2019
Tests and coming a close second to HQ Squadron in the top crew competition. This was particularly impressive as the Squadron’s gunners and commanders were largely newly trained and lack- ing in experience in the turret.
It wasn’t all work, and the Squadron made use of Pembrokeshire to conduct some great PT, social events and adventurous train- ing. The hallmark moment was surf PT where the Squadron de- scended on Freshwater West to conduct shallow water ‘drills’, sand dune reps and burden carries. The Squadron all dug in and had a great time (at least once they were drinking hot choco- late on the bus after finishing!). The Squadron also conducted coasteering around the fabled cliffs of West Wales. 12-meter cliff jumps, scrambling around vertical cliffs and exploring blow holes and caverns on a sunny day could hardly be considered work.
A special mention to LCpl Potter who was top gunner in the Squadron and to Capt Anani-Isaac who departed as Squadron 2IC bound for 1 (Armoured Infantry) Brigade to work as the Ex- ecutive Officer. Good luck to Jules and we look forward to seeing him back at the Regiment in the future. With Jules’ departure came Capt Rob Gardner’s arrival and with him a further bolster- ing of the Squadron’s fitness levels.
The rest of the autumn, leading into winter, was spent con- ducting an exercise in the Combined Arms Tactical Trainer in Warminster, a live fire package in a frosty Warcop and support- ing other regimental activity, most notable Cambrian Patrol where LCpl Whitehead and Tpr Brown helped the team achieve a silver medal. The squadron excelled across the sporting fields turning around its sub-optimal athletics performance to win the Babbington Shield. The Squadron also put forward a formida- ble boxing squad (Capt Gardner, Lt Thompson, Cpl Shacklady, LCpl Potter, LCpl Moss, Tpr Simcox and Tpr Cornforth) for the Peto cup. D Squadron won the overall competition, includ- ing Best Fighter (Capt Gardner) and Most Gallant (Tpr Simcox). We also proved our engineering acumen winning the REME- organised St Eligius Cup focussed on fitness, problem solving and engineering challenges.
The squadron’s junior leadership has been steadily progressing and developing throughout the year, this was highlighted with a huge swathe of promotions in October. Tprs Gilmore, Wa- terfield, Thompson, Phillips, Stevenson, Cornforth, Southam, Price, White and Whitehead were all promoted to LCpl; a sig- nificant step in their Army journey. Meanwhile LCpl Graham, Westerman, Greer and Miles were selected for promotion to Cor- poral. Well done all and here’s to all of your rising stock in the years to come.
With Christmas week came the usual fun and frolics of the fes- tive season. Most notably the Squadron had some great news at the Regimental Awards. LCpl Horton and Tpr Brown received CO’s commendations, the OC came first in the Brigg’s Bash an- nual adventure run, Lt Mackaness was awarded the Thornton Sword for best performance in the field, and Capt Gardner the Ned Mann Memorial for best sporting achievement. This long and distinguished list was increased in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List where SSgt Smith was awarded a General Officer Commanding 3rd (United Kingdom) Division Commendation and Corporal Shacklady a Commander Field Army Commenda- tion – both epic achievements that are hugely significant and deserve praise.
All-in-all an epic year for D Squadron and one that has set a
strong foundation for everything that lies ahead in 2020.
AJH
The SSM’s land rover adopts the prone position during the PNCO cadre, Otterburn, February 2019