Page 13 - Example Journals

that each member of the squadron could work closely with any other. This gave the Tp Sgts the excuse they needed to demonstrate what they planned would be a perfect demonstration of an extraction under re from an ambushed pickup truck. Much planning had gone into this and a small audience assembled, despite the near horizontal rain. Unfortunately 36 hours of rain, combined with a particularly muddy piece of ground, over which they were to move, proved their undoing and resulted in all four sliding to the ground in succession and struggling to get up while simultaneously attempting to return re at the gure 11 targets playing the part of ambushers. What resulted was akin to a Benny Hill sketch, but with the added excitement of live ammunition!
The training also included short range, snap engagements, aimed at training us to counter insider attackers. This inevitably involved a small patrol entering a building or compound to conduct mentoring and a target suddenly being exposed (representing the attacker) which had to be engaged by one of the patrol’s guardian angels. This was excellent training for the junior soldiers who would be employed as guardian angels as well as extremely useful for the NCO force protection commander, who decided where responsible for positioning them.
Ex PASHTUN TEMPEST culminated in a two day mini-exercise, where the squadron was based in a farmhouse compound and conducted patrols during both day and night out to simulated ANA locations to conduct training and mentoring.
From Wales, the squadron moved to Thetford, for the main CMST test exercise, Ex PASHTUN PANTHER (known to previous generations as the ‘meat grinder,’ owing to the number of commanders, at all levels, removed from post as a result of the performance of their commands on the exercise). On this occasion, A and B Sqns were collocated in a patrol base, with each deploying out of it to conduct simulated mission speci c tasks.
The rst few days of the exercise were designed as a combination of training
Amazingly, they were...
The ‘Special’ Relationship
1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards 9
and testing of the ‘hard skills’ previously learned, out of scenario. We were then placed within a semi-realistic training scenario, where we had to deploy troop strength training team patrols to a simulated RCBS, complete with Afghan role-players. While not hyper-realistic, the scenario and infrastructure presented to us proved an excellent environment for us to be thoroughly tested. As with any OPTAG exercise, Ex PASHTUN PANTHER was punctuated by plenty of drama, with attacks being launched against us seemingly constantly in order to fully test our TTPs and command and control procedures.
While not as wet as Castlemartin, Thetford was reassuringly cold, with the snow on the ground when we arrived rapidly turning to nearly frozen water, which pooled in the three green army tents we were provided for accommodation (and for which we were provided just two heaters).
While patrols were deployed and the patrol base guarded (alternately by A and B Sqn), SHQ ran the Ops room.
The exercise was well resourced with (amongst other things) ISR and two military working dogs, a spaniel called Bingo whose job it was to nd weapons and explosives and an attack dog (an Alsatian) called Appu. Appu quickly became a squadron favourite although
Loughy, Letching
he was so friendly, we all slightly doubted his utility as an attack dog.
Ex PASHTUN PANTHER nished with the squadron being certi ed t to deploy (albeit with the inevitable points that we could improve on prior to departure). We were to be limited to deploying just 30 people (advisors and security soldiers) to Afghanistan; however the exercise construct (in the absence of our USMC partners) had required that almost double that number be deployed to Castlemartin and Thetford. It was therefore necessary to select a team from the squad that had been successfully trained up to deploy.
At around this time, it was con rmed that A Sqn would deploy a month ahead of the rest of the Regiment (and 20 Brigade) in mid-April. This was done so that the UK and USMC halves of the RCBS training team would not conduct their RiPs (relief in place) at the same time (the USMC were already locked into a mid-May RiP), in order to maintain continuity within the RCBS. This meant that Ex PASHTUN PANTHER would be the last major training event for A Sqn (B and C Sqns going on to a further exercise in the UK).
The squadron conducted its nal ORBAT change in mid-March, shedding its surplus manpower to the ROG and gaining WO2 Jason ‘Butch’ Davies, who took over from WO2 Jason ‘Bongo’ Davies as SSM and SSgt Riley who took
Sgt Simpson hands over the deeds to the local German ‘wellness spa’