Page 85 - RAPTC Mind, Body & Spirit

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HEADQUARTERS LONDON DISTRICT
WO1 (SMI) K Haniver RAPTC
After a long wait to move into the role as SMI, I pulled up my chair alongside the new SO2 Mr Mumford, blew the dust off my key board and promptly rang the old SMI (now SIO Ian Navin) located just down the road at Wellington Barracks. Between him and WO2 (QMSI) Kenny Pitcairn, who assists with the Reservist element, most of my specific LONDIST questions are answered.
It is quite a surreal experience living
and working in London. Looking out
of the window at the frequent parades
and all the tourists going about their
business on St James Park is amazing. This will no doubt become very distracting as the summer months near and the good weather calls me to go for a run around the beautiful parks.
A familiar transition into the job on in my first week, I attended the LONDIST XC Championships organised by SSgt (SSI) Williams. Not only able to get a run out myself, HQ LONDIST won the Minor Unit team category in a well contested event at Tweseldown race course......... a great start!
Still fairly fresh into the post as I write this, I reflect on the phrase ‘London District is very unique’ that I constantly hear from those
WO1 (SMI) K Haniver
I speak to here. This is proving very true. The challenges the RAPTCIs have trying to implement structured PT and encourage participation in sport and AT around the busy ceremonial duties is evident. Luckily, LONDIST has a great team of Corps men with lots of experience and abundant team spirit. This is clear in the support they all give to the District events through officiating, driving participation, running courses and the regular social gatherings to celebrate promotions and encourage team ethos.
SSgt (Rambo) Williams running to victory
Within a few weeks of my arrival, the HQ conducted a CAST Exercise centred on extreme cold and flu epidemic. This was a huge learning curve for me as I was holed up in a small room for a week assisting in the planning and execution of this task. It was however a great opportunity to meet various people from the HQ and forge links with different departments.
The sport side of London I find frustrating. While nice to keep the London Identity, the units cannot fully support all the events to make all competitions. We therefore rely on the support of the UK South, especially for the female side of the competitions. The big LONDIST events are the GOCs Cup and Trophy, the latter being specifically for reservists ran by WO2 (QMSI) Pitcairn, the Female Festival of Sport and the Lawson Cup Athletics for the Household Division Units around the Country.
As ever, there are many centralised courses delivered by the local RAPTCIs including ETL, OCS and internal CPD. These are highly sought after due to the many minor and reservist units in the area and vital to the delivery of PT in the District.
With little more to draw on, I look forward to the new challenges and experiences that working and living in London will bring.
SSgt Bailey RAPTC – Implementation of the APTS into 1 CG
SO2 Mr M Mumford