Page 52 - Cavalry Regiment

tinued to prove their utility with operational demand stretching from the Baltics to the Maghreb, despite the absence of any policy provenance.
The Yeomanry, fully part of the RAC, provides our geo- graphical footprint given the predominance of regular basing in the South. It is set to provide formed sub- units to deploy on operations and consistently proves its worth augmenting both Challenger 2 and Jackal- equipped regiments; Ajax as of yet being an unan- swered but necessary question. We continue to provide excellence on State Ceremonial and Public Duties.
Ultimately however, it’s not about the kit – it’s about the man in the turret. And one thing that has not changed in my service with the Armoured Corps is the quality of its people. We are seen – rightly – as imaginative and innovative. We do better on courses
and exercises and are to be found across the Army in demanding and high-performing posts. We have bags of interest at Sandhurst with about five officer cadets expressing an interest in the Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps for every place on offer. Soldier recruiting is another story, but we outperform the rest of the Army and are reaping the dividends as Army- wide recruiting processes are sped up and streamlined, conscious that the proposition (of soldiering) is no longer well understood.
We face, then, a number of challenges as we enter the third decade of the 21st century – but also a great deal of opportunity. We are proud of our history and ready to live up to the standards set by those who have sol- diered in the Royal Armoured Corps before us.
PREFACE
The Colonel of the Regiment
EAGLE AND CARBINE 5
As I draft my foreword (started in Edinburgh and continued in Wiltshire) as we all go into quar- antine to challenge the COVID-19 pandemic, I cannot but help reflect on the changes this global crisis may bring about.
Many people are fearful for their
safety and are now operating wholly
from their homes, trying to work,
caring for the vulnerable (their own
and others in the community) while
our national institutions and busi-
nesses look to care for their stake-
holders, staff and customers, all the
while trying to limit their financial
exposure and play a useful part in
the national endeavour. The Army
- along with the other Services - of
course is taking steps to play its part, looking after its own while drawing together its resources, tuning the Operational Tour Plot and planning for civil contin- gencies. Positively perhaps, our Society is working largely together in a manner untried in my lifetime.
Any one of us would be challenged to categorise the ‘shock’ or ‘sur- prise’ events of the last century - 100 years that have seen several global conflicts, a rich variety of financial booms and depressions, the wax and wane of several ideologies, glo- balisation and the passage of our own society through the industrial and information ages. Service in the ‘Profession of Arms’ has meant that often we have been close to the action and been privileged to form a view on how the world and its peo- ple fit together - both well and badly.
Regimentally, we have sought over the years to build plans for sus- tainment and continuity against a variety of unexpected events that
might impact on our operational capability, our char- ity and our wider networks - these plans have tried to take account of whole of the Regimental family. Now though, we are engulfed in a scenario of poten- tially greater magnitude, one of international strategic