Page 39 - QARANC Vol 16 No 2 2018

Major Kerry McFadden Newman 253 Medical Regiment and Captain Laura Postlethwaite, 204 Field Hospital
test not only our technique, but our fears (the very heart of adventure training). Upon completion of the six-day module we had covered moving from snow plough to turning and carving in the snow, small jumps, traversing using the uphill edge, schussing into a complete stop and even some very enjoyable off-piste skiing!
This exercise tested the aims and objectives of adventure training in its truest sense. The evening chat was about how challenging, difficult and demanding the session had been that day but also how some people had taken on a new challenge and couldn’t quite believe what they had accomplished. It proved just how successful this type of activity is for service persons. Exercise NCS is a physically demanding exercise requiring mental and physical robustness in order that the training objectives can be met. It should not be underestimated how physically fit you should be to gain maximum benefit from the six-day module.
Thankfully, I had no Bridget Jones’s moments and, despite several acrobatics and crash landings, managed to pass Ski Foundation Level 1. What a wonderful opportunity this exercise is and I encourage application for anyone who has never experienced skiing and who is up for that ultimate adventure training experience. Roll on SF1 consolidation!
Major Kerry McFadden-Newman 253 Medical Regiment
The Museum of Military Medicine Update
Since the last update on progress
to relocate, The Museum of
Military Medicine from Keogh
Barracks to Cardiff Bay, the Welsh
Government has announced its
intention to build a new indoor
arena in Cardiff Bay, with the
Red Dragon Centre adjacent to
our Hemingway Road site as
the preferred location. This has
proved to be something of a ‘curve
ball’ in that it has compromised
the planning agreement relating to
access across the Red Dragon car park. With the British Airways Pension Fund (the site owner), the Museum team is continuing to explore ways around this and with the help of Cardiff Council we expect to resolve this issue favourably by the end of September 2018.
A Business Case is now in the process of being prepared which will outline the full scope of the Trustees’ ambitions for the new facility, with a range of activities and events focused around, and complementary to, the Museum. In addition to the Museum itself, the facility will feature a cafe and restaurant, conference rooms, retail, event spaces and exhibition galleries. The new building will need to be a ‘destination’ nationally and provide visitors with experiences rather than be seen as just a ‘day out.’ The Museum team is currently negotiating with European partners about bringing different kinds of immersive technology to the Museum with which to inspire civilian visitors and also provide learning opportunities for serving personnel.
Work is now underway to establish a postgraduate course in healthcare leadership and organisational change in partnership with Swansea University, to begin in 2019, using the Museum’s rich archive collections for a series of case studies in army leadership to inform the course content. The out-going Corps Colonel, Ashleigh Boreham, will be working with academics from the School of Management at Swansea University to develop the course, some of the teaching of which, once the new museum facility is finished, will be delivered at our site.
With the land purchase settled, there will be the need to undertake development work in Cardiff, South Wales and the West of England, in terms of outreach and education, to begin to establish the Museum in its new location prior to its eventual arrival in Cardiff. Some of this has begun, with exploratory contacts with other universities in the region, including the Peninsula Dental School in Plymouth. Part of that outreach will also need to involve the Corps, as a way for military personnel to participate more closely with the work of the Museum.
In the meantime, there is much to do at the current site at Keogh Barracks to prepare the collections for their move. The Museum is currently looking for volunteers to help with this. If readers have a spare morning or afternoon and would like to become involved, please email:
robert.mcintosh@museumofmilitarymedicine.org.uk. Jason Semmens
Director Museum of Military Medicine
THE GAZETTE QARANC 37
Jason Semmens Director of the Museum of Military Medicine