Page 9 - Cavalry Regiment

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
9
In another year of two halves A Squadron has returned from operations, enjoyed a healthy amount of leave and continued to train and take part in every event the Regiment has been committed to over 2019. Thankfully the faces have remained pretty constant throughout with a few of our number leaving on posting or to civil- ian life while we have welcomed a good number of new Troopers into our ranks.
The snow that was falling in Poland at the time of writing these notes last year continued to fall throughout the early part of 2019. January and February saw us routinely operating in temperatures of -15°C with the wind chill dropping it down to -25°C pretty quickly as the Jackals started moving. Whereas the first half of the tour focussed on exer- cise and training at Troop and Squadron level, the second half became a series of courses, ranges and trips around Poland that not only helped us qualify a number of new personnel but also gave us a fla-
...the second half became a series of courses, ranges and
trips around Poland...
A Squadron
vour of the country we were operating in. Capt Hind and Sgt Speed ran a gruel- ling Potential NCO course in the January cold, complete with representation from all the other battlegroup nations. From section attacks in waist deep snow to presentations about everything from ‘growing up in Austria’ to ‘why I don’t like cats’ it proved to be an eye-open- ing experience for students and DS alike. Everyone is now particularly wary of Tpr Harris 326. This event was seen as one of the hardest courses run during the deployment with those passing very much earning the respect of all other nations. LCpl Brennan is congratulated for claiming the top student prize amidst some tough competition.
Knowing that we would be returning to high readiness in the UK a series of ranges and lessons were then devised to help make this less painful. Lts Brockless and Martel were by this stage adept at bartering with the Polish range staff to enable us to fire, even when it was deemed that individual weapons were more dangerous than heavy weapons and we were banned from firing anything that wasn’t vehicle mounted. The joys of multi-national operations. We did man- age to finally satisfy Cpl Turner’s urge to fire Javelin and were lucky enough to be allocated 4 missiles and 6 NLAW
Cpl Hutchings
which gave a number of young gunners a chance they would not usually get (as well as a good NATO media opportu- nity). The dying days of the tour focussed almost entirely on ensuring that we handed everything over in good order to our successors in A Sqn, Scots DG. As many readers will know many a regiment has lost its name thanks to a bad hand- over, some sterling work from across the Squadron ensured that we left with our heads held high.
While a winter deployment in open architecture vehicles would always have its challenges there is little doubt that
“Come on – let’s get this over with”
Venice. Kayaking. Adventurous, apparently