Page 36 - QDG 2022

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1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
to HQ Sqn. As the weather warmed up more BBQ’s and Families days were organised, however, the transition did not mean a slower pace, indeed Exercise Eagles Return (Home Coming Parades) was only weeks away and had grown to include a Freedom Parade in Dereham, HRH attendance in Cardiff and an extra medals parade in Cardiff Castle. There was also time for sporting events in the form of the QDG athletics, which was hosted in the University of East Anglia athletics stadium. The regiment also sponsored the Hereford Jubilee Boxing Night in Jun, the QDG table was a perfect example of the wider QDG family and included JNCOs and partners, members of the RCA and Veterans (Sub Thomas MBE) and Officers.’ A great event followed by an evening in Hereford. Lt Dickie Fulloway only had his Mess Kit with him but managed to borrow some clothes off various people including OC HQ (luckily, they are of similar height) so that he could join the evening in town after the event.
Throughout July the Regiment conducted Exercise Eagles Return, this included Dereham Freedom Parade and evening Cocktail
OC HQ & QM GGHG Visit Canada
funding will only be available for 100 people to attend a freedom parade within 50 miles of base location or 50 people at further distances”. The significant short fall in public funding was covered by the
Regimental Trust, without which the events would not have taken place, high- lighting how lucky we are as a regimental family to have the Trust and Trustees stew- ardship.
After some well needed summer leave in August we hit the ground running in September with a barrage of yearly inspections. Most of the department heads were new in post after a regi- mental Re-Orbat (including
the new RCMO Capt Dale Thomas who had moved from RQMS) and we congrat- ulate him on his successful Late Entry Commission. Even though all depart- ments had spent the previous year at
minimal staffing due to Op Newcombe 2 & 3 all external inspections passed with no issues, which is testament to the hard work of all team members in HQ, most covering two or even three positions.
September saw the regiment resub- ordinate from 7 Lt Mech BCT to 1st Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade Combat Team (1 DRS BCT) under 3rd UK Division. The immediate effect for HQ Sqn was alignment to providing Real Life Support (RLS) to Ex War Fighter in the US between Jan & May 2023. In addition to the normal drum beat of support to the regiment, this task has taken considerable planning and will see 600 supporting troops and 850 exercising troops take part in US / NATOs premier validation exercise. The RLS element will be provided by HQ and C Sqn with OC HQ as the lead.
HQ was focused on the main effort of War Fighter preparation between October and December, with over 30 ISO shipping containers filled with stores for the exercise that has been collected from all over the Army. HQ elements have been deployed in Germany, across the UK and in the US, collecting stores, conducting Recce’s, and attending planning meetings. The G4 lead Capt Matt Hansen QM(A) is working on a level far above that of a normal unit QM with a budget in the millions of pounds, which is testament to the trust and reputation of QDG within the Army command.
In closing, I draw you back to my opening quote of “If you want something done well, find a busy person to do it”. There has been much more activity done by HQ that I have space to cover in this article. HQ Sqn is a busy place, and I must commend all members of the Sqn for a job well done in achieving our mission of ensuring the regiment is always prepared for our ‘finest hour.’
Party, Cardiff Parade (With
the Colonel in Chief), Op Newcombe Medals Parade
(Cardiff Castle), thanksgiving
service at Llandaff Cathedral,
Wrexham Parade, Swansea
Parade and Mansion House
dinner. The final parade
(Hereford) was cancelled
at the eleventh hour on the recommendation of public
health England due to
extreme temperatures. All
parades also included post
parade functions. The Exercise took 12 months of planning and involved the whole regiment in its execution. This was no mean feat and completely against Army policy, which states, “Public
“If you want something done well, find a busy person to do it”
Sgt Grill RET Dereham Pde
RCM