Page 112 - MBS 2022/23

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26 Engineer Regiment (26 Engr Regt) is a fast-paced, flexible Armoured Engineer Regiment that
provides armoured, artisan and specialist engineering capabilities. They enable 12 Armoured Infantry Brigade to live, move and fight.
Again, this has been a very busy year for the Regiment supporting operations on Op CABRIT, and exercises in Kenya, Germany and Canada.
Physical and Mental Resilience are the foundations on which 26 Engr Regt is built upon. Whether this is on arduous green PT sessions out on the area or yoga and flexibility, it is key to make sure that all those service personnel buy into the training and are fully prepared for any task they are given.
We have now introduced a 2-week Return to Fitness programme that has become very popular within the unit. This is for all personnel that show Very High Risk on their Body Composition Measurement (BCM) or personnel that feel they struggle on Sqn PT. It is made up of various lessons including a Soldier Conditioning Review (SCR) at the start of the week and another one at the end of the second week. It is designed to give personnel more knowledge about healthy eating and leading a healthy lifestyle, also a great opportunity for the soldiers to ask the PTIs for any advice and guidance. This has proven to be a great success within the Regiment and is conducted every 3-months.
With most of the unit deployed on either exercises or operations, there has still been time for various events to take part within
26 ENGINEER REGIMENT
SSgt (SSI) M Bloom RAPTC
the Regiment. The Commanding Officer’s Cup started with a bang, a visit to the local Obstacle Course for a Sqn competition. This was the first time a lot of the soldiers had touched an Obstacle Course for a long time, so it was good to refresh those skills and it turned out to be a very popular event. This year we have also introduced something called ‘The Commanding Officer’s Green Cup.’ This is separate to the Commanding Officer’s Cup as it will concentrate mainly on soldiering skills and role-specific events such as bridge building, march and shoots, map reading, etc. This will also allow the Regiment to recognise those individuals at the end of the year for not just for their sporting skills but also task-related soldiering.
The highlight of the year has been the Swinton Barracks Boxing Competition. All
4 units entered boxers with the Prelims starting on the Monday with only 3 bouts. The finals took place on the Thursday with 11 bouts scheduled. The atmosphere within the gymnasium was electric with all 4 units supporting their boxers. The relatively inexperienced boxers put on a great performance throughout the entire week, despite them not taking part in a Regtl event such as this before.
The Regiment is now preparing for the HQ South West (HQ SW) Festival of Sport in May 23 and the Sapper Games in July.
To conclude, I have had another fantastic year with 26 Engr Regt with some great highlights. My aim, as always, will be to maximise opportunity, decrease non- deployable numbers and enhance the overall physical capability of our soldiers.
SSgt (SSI) M Bloom delivering COs Cup Event