Page 83 - RAPTC Mind, Body & Spirit

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ALLIED RAPID REACTION FORCE SUPPORT BATTALION
WO2 (QMSI) B Bynorth RAPTC
ARRC Support Battalion, as the name suggests supports HQ ARRC, which is a High Readiness (Land) Force HQ, which is prepared to deploy under NATO, EU, coalition or national auspices to undertake Combined and Joint operations. Although HQ ARRC’s ‘framework nation’ is the United Kingdom, comprising approximately sixty per cent of the overall staff, the ARRC is fully multinational in nature and organisation, with twenty- one NATO and Partner Nations contributing personnel. This leads to a unique and diverse community which in turn brings many and varied Physical Development projects and engagements throughout the year.
Sport as with most Battalions is high on the priority list, from an administration and command position we are controlled by 1 Sig Bde which is also co-located in the barracks. So as a minor unit we support all the Royal Signal competitions and events, Race the Sun, Lanyard Trophy, Trail Walker, Morrison’s Cup as well as RLC Athletics/X-Country and the RLC Ski Nordic and Alpine Championships. We also have a full time Boxing Team, currently with ten soldiers, the boxers had been in training since November and in January they also had the opportunity to attend a two week overseas boxing training camp in Gibraltar. With most of the team being made up of RLC, we will be entering soldiers into the RLC Individuals prior to the1 Sig Bde Boxing night in November.
The Battalion is currently in the planning stages of a remote overseas AT Expedition in 2019, to support this project the unit has been delivering numerous AT packages for the soldiers. These range from Type 2 multi activity to Type 3 Distributed Training courses. We have recently returned from a Unit AT package ‘Intro to Winter Mountaineering’ delivered by ATG (Inverness), however more expeditions are planned in various locations which include Italy, Snowdonia and the Cairngorms.
ARRC-Sp-Bn Winter mountaineering Scotland
QMSI Bynorth and son Sebby on the visit of HRH Prince Charles
As I alluded to earlier, the very nature of a ‘Support’ Battalion means you are likely to encounter many varied and interesting tasks throughout the year. Over the past two years the battalion has been increasing the amount of Gurkha soldiers, this will continue until the Battalion is about 80% manned with soldiers from Nepal. Included in this we have a platoon of Royal Gurkha Regiment soldiers who act as Force Protection on a deployment. Every year the Nepalese celebrate the ‘Dashain’ this is the longest and the most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar, every October this colourful festival is celebrated by our ever increasing population of Gurkhas and their families within Imjin Station.
The pace of life is always hectic, however Imjin Barracks is a fascinating and interesting multi-cultural place to work and enjoy life.