Page 40 - Cavalry Regiment

12 The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars
Adventurous training in Estonia
truly awesome display of combined arms fury followed as Apache helicopters flew low overhead, simulated artillery made the earth shake while engineers cleared obstacles and the infantry rooted the enemy out of their trenches at bayonet point.
June saw the battlegroup deploy complete to finally confirm that No.3 Coy could operate alongside all of their British counter- parts. On return to Tapa it was all change once again. D Squadron Leader took a team of staff officers to Lithuania in support of Exercise SABRE KNIGHT while the rest of the command team celebrated HM The Queen’s birthday with the Ambassador to Estonia at her residence in Tallinn. A Squadron disappeared off to the small but useful Nursipalu Training Area to sharpen their dismounted live firing skills. Meanwhile, the Land Equipment Audit (LEA) team assessed equipment care... the first of nine assurance visits enjoyed while in Estonia. Fifty soldiers went to Narva on Exercise BALTIC TRAINER to learn how to lead their own battlefield studies of the actions that took place there during WW2; the profound lessons of that bitter fighting and the ter- rain quickly became an essential part of the education required to work in Estonia. The Officers’ Mess decamped to a house in the middle of nowhere to bid farewell to the Operations Officer (Captain Harry Bartles) and the 2IC (Major Charlie Smith), before the battlegroup deployed once again on Exercise HUNT to help train Estonian Reservists (the Estonian Defence League). To top off an already busy month, the arrival of the Royal Navy in Estonian waters provided a rare opportunity to practice landing
A knockout event
tanks on beaches alongside Royal Marine Commandos during Exercise BALTIC PROTECTOR.
Not to be outdone some of B Squadron were also in the water, diving in Malta on Exercise AQUATIC EMPEROR. The Squadron then came back together to march through Salisbury on Armed Forces Day wearing their crimson trousers. C Squadron made their own fun deployed to Germany with 1 YORKS for their CSTTX, prov- ing their readiness as the Lead Armoured Battlegroup (LABG). Their subsequent support to the Rundle Cup (Army versus Navy polo) was seamless, reinforcing the links the Regiment enjoys with polo. B Squadron then delivered a superb potential JNCO Cadre to select and train the next generation of junior leaders. At the end of the month, it was C Squadron’s turn to conduct some adventurous training, this time a multi-activity week in Jersey that included mountain biking, trekking and coasteering. B Squadron had just enough time to squeeze in an exercise to practice their survival skills (and reduce the local chicken popula- tion) before all in the UK stood down for summer leave.
“Uksi pole keegi” is Estonian for “nobody is alone,” the title of a popular Estonian folk song. This phrase became the temporary focus of a 200-strong choir who performed in Tapa in a one-off televised concert while the Estonian people prepared for their famous song and dance festival. Taking place once every five years and attended by a tenth of the population at any one time, it is a UNESCO recognised event of huge significance; the battlegroup contribution to the setup and build up to the event, not to mention
Live firing in Latvia
Monte Cassino