Page 20 - RAPTC Year of 2019

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SO2 ADVENTUROUS TRAINING & SPORT POLICY
Maj (MAA) R Reid RAPTC
As I contemplate compiling this year MBS notes, I reflect on how quickly time has passed since arriving at Army HQ in May 19. The handover received from Maj Nick O’Shea was very informative and greatly appreciated. I was very fortunate to have been assigned to the post of SO2 AT/Sport which was my first choice on the PPP, though I am not too sure how much competition there was. Whilst I have a reasonable understanding of AT, I cannot recall the last time I played sport, though I am very envious of all those that have taken and continue to take the opportunity to participate in the great sporting opportunities that exist. The role of SO2 AT/Sport is to develop & deliver pan-Army Adventurous Training & Sport policy and maintain JSAT Policy, well that sounds simple so it’s just AGAI 5, AGAI 11 and ACSO 3235; if only.
There have been numerous key work strands undertaken over the past 18 months which has seen the re-write of AGAI 5 (Sport) and AGAI 11 (AT), both documents have been subject to a complete revise and update in order to provide the most up to date coherent policy that is easy to use. Whilst these key Army policy documents take a considerable amount of staff effort to update, the support of ATG (A), the ASCB and PD Branch Regional Command has been greatly appreciated; thank you. Keeping with key policy documents, there has been some tweaks to ACSO 3235 (Comparable Activities), mainly associated to an exemption process for activities exceeding 14 days. As you will all be aware, JSP 419 is the Defence policy for AT, whilst this document is the responsibility of Training, Education, Skills, Recruiting & Resettlement (TESRR) in main building, the bulk of the schemes listed within JSP 419 fall to the Army as the Training Requirements Authority (TRA), as such over the past 18 months this document has also be subject to many changes with Army HQ having significant involvement.
Moving away from policy documents, there are 2 key areas of work that I would like to mention, firstly it’s been a pleasure to have closed off a substantial piece of work that commenced back in 2017 whereby a review identified a shortage of suitably qualified coaches and officials across all army sports. Subsequent data gathering and analysis identified the numbers of coaches and officials required to deliver sport safely across the Army which has led to the ASCB, as a Training Delivery Authority being issued with a SOTR and the necessary public funds to meet this training requirement. Therefore, and with effect from Apr 21 the opportunities for Army personnel to become qualified as a sports
coach or official will increase. The second notable area of interest relates to the insurance requirements for personnel attending overseas adventurous training expeditions, an issue that has confused us all for many years; do I need medical insurance, am I on duty, when am I off duty. Noting that at the time of writing the policy has yet to be updated, there will be a requirement for all authorised AT expeditions to have appropriate emergency and medical provision in place prior to their commencement. It is considered that this shift in direction will address many of the issues we have all previously experienced and will ensure that we continue to protect our people.
In addition to the business as usual (referred to as BaU in the HQ) tasks that consumes an inordinate amount of time there are always occasions where the wider branch requires support with other tasks. As such, time has been spent supporting the PES Team with their lessons process, Ind Trg with the re-write of AGAI 23 (Battlefield Studies), languages and culture and looking in to swimming competence within the Army.
So, with all that policy going on and no sport on a Wednesday afternoon I managed to convince the CoC to release me to support the Pers Pol ski expedition to France and the D Pers ski mountaineering expedition to Austria.
Major Russ Reid shorting roping on the approach to the Simalaun 3606m
Ex Versant Tiger 2020 – Pers Pol Staff