Page 11 - QARANC Spring 2024

commander. “Some of the instructors were still there and remembered me as Private, so that was initially an odd sort of dynamic to work through, but we did quickly,” she says, adding: “Doing the inspections and seeing my old bed space was quite weird.” The baseball bat was one tradition Andrea was happy to dispense with.
Whilst there, Andrea was promoted to Captain and sent to the new tri-service Royal Hospital Haslar, in Gosport. As a ward manager, she worked with the RAF and the Navy and remembers it as an “amazing experience with beautiful views of the Solent”. Andrea was encouraged to specialize in infection prevention and control, which she did, and she had further postings in the Midlands, including Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she headed up its infection, prevention, and control (IPC) team of civilian and military personnel.
In 2004, Andrea undertook an IPC staff job at Robertson House at the Sandhurst (now home to the QARANC Association) and in her two years there she was selected for the Intermediate Command and Staff Course, moving her away from clinical and into command and staff. Andrea was SO2 personnel for the Army Medical Service (AMS) for 10 months before being selected to be Company Commander at Pirbright. It was a new company being established, and a unique and enjoyable challenge for Andrea.
At age 37, while on maternity leave, Andrea was promoted to Lt Colonel and selected for command of 22 Field Hospital. She had a gap of about five months before taking up the role and did the QARANC Regimental Secretary job whilst it was ‘gapped’ – this enabled her to get to know the Association even better. Andrea admits it was “awesome and overwhelming” attending her first day at 22 Field Hospital wearing a Lt Colonel rank slide for the first time whilst being addressed by her new title as CO!
I oversaw a multinational team having Americans, Danish, and Estonians under my command, as well
as the UK contingent.
At the Field Hospital in Basra with Colonel Sharon Findlay and Maj (Rtd) Kerry Clarke following the invasion of Iraq in 2003
A year into her CO role came a big challenge – deployment to Afghanistan. Andrea had already been out to Iraq for the Gulf War in 2003, stationed at a field hospital at Basra airfield, and this time she would take charge of the hospital for Operation Herrick. Andrea describes it as without doubt the “pinnacle” of her career.
“I oversaw a multinational team having Americans, Danish, and Estonians under my command, as well as the UK contingent. At the time, this facility was the busiest trauma hospital in the world. There was huge pressure on all of us, but such a privilege. I was very proud of what everyone achieved on that tour; there
The Gazette QARANC Association 11
At Regional Command on her last day in the Army – taken for a ride in a tank