Page 40 - The Royal Lancers Chapka 2017
P. 40

38 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) Motor Transport Troop
  Another busy year for the Regiment (you have probably heard that before) with exercises ranging from troop to divisional level, all requiring support from ‘MT’. We have deployed as ‘A1’, real-life support or both, ensuring that the fighting echelons are supported from the initial planning to execution and recovery. Through the year there has been a change of Motor Transport Officer, from Captain Stu Bennison to Captain Craig Borthwick and now to Captain Richard Doherty – newly commissioned – who now takes the reigns. Well, those drivers’ hours checks have taken their toll! The MTWO, Warrant Officer Class 2 Mason also returned from a six month tour in Northern Ireland.
The highlight of the year has to be Exercise NORTHERN LANCER; we were based in a hide in the Otterburn region causing plenty of friction for Major O’Kane. The exercise not only allowed the soldiers to conduct some basic skills and drills, but also allowed us to conduct higher level training with 101 Logistics Brigade. The exercise proved we have some keen bright young Soldiers in the troop who are keen to get back to the fighting echelons as we look forward to receiving more fresh blood to ‘MT’. With the advent of a formalised rotational post- ing scheme, now directed by Regimental Headquarters, we look forward to training the next batch of Motor Transport experts!
The Padre digging for victory
There have been a number of promotions within the troop, showing the rest of the Regiment you can still progress in your career with a small trip to ‘MT’. We have had to say farewell to Sergeant Oxby who has completed his 22 years of service and also Troopers Perkins, Porter and Hurst; we wish them all the best in their new endeavours.
CB
 This year has seen a complete staff change within the Train- ing Wing: Captain Mansfield posted to the Household Cavalry and Captain Round returned from the role of Corp Regimental Sergeant Major to take the seat (and then also leave the Army). A brief spell as the Training Warrant Officer saw Mr Hackney promote and hand over to Warrant Officer Class 2 Lucas. Staff Sergeants Jones, Edwards and Palmer all moved into the department and Staff Sergeants Doak and Mukungunugwa took over SQMS roles, with the former then returning after having handed over A SQMS after his stint!
With some major exercises on the forecast of events this year, the wing have had a busy time convening, delivering and coordinating training. Supporting the delivery of Exercise NORTHERN LANCER, Captain Round found himself not only driving all over the north of England and Scotland nego- tiating land access, but also moving downstairs into the nexus of ‘puzzle palace’ – as it is affectionately known – next to the Operations Officer. No one is quite sure whether it was speak- ing to the landed gentry of the North, the owners of most of the moorland in northern England, or the move downstairs
that lead him to decide to leave the Army! Nonetheless, We wish him well in his future career.
Exercise NORTHERN LANCER’s training requirements were vast and the training wing had the task of getting 76 soldiers from across the Regiment General Service (GS) Lan- drover driver trained. This saw instructors working back-to- back for five weeks to get through it. This was just one of the ‘training deltas’ that needed closing with for a novel Field Training Exercise such as this. Looking back, it does seem strange that our soldiers leave either Phase 1 or Phase 2 only able to drive tanks. There are no limits to the amount of GS courses we can put on so it is somewhat confusing as to why this cannot be done in any of the holding weeks at Bovington. What with that, public order battle-exercise instructors and the demand for pool life-guard training, it has been, to coin a phrase, another busy year.
With the deployment on Operation TOSCA early next year, the Training Wing will be at reduced manning. This will, hopefully, allow the remaining staff time to give the facilities a good update. We hope to build a model room to enable troop rehearsal of ‘Standard Operating Instructions’, Armoured Fighting Vehicle Reconnaissance needs a refresh and we wait with anticipation for the announcement of who will fill the much-talked about Dismounted and Tactics Staff Sergeant post. For those deploying, there will be some hard days spot- ting new CCTV cameras, sandbags and other Opposing Force violations, but also a bit of sun-burn, slightly lower handicaps and hopefully some trimmer bodies. However, before that, there is still a lot of training support required for the deploy- ment, as well as supporting C Squadron’s deployment to BA- TUS and the usual allocation and administration behind the Royal Armoured and other Corps’ annual training courses. Bring on 2018!
The Training Wing
 Shield teams thrust forward
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