Page 117 - The Bugle 2018

From the trenches to the top: Reserves Day 2018
For Reserves Day 2018 I and four of my colleagues from my civilian employer, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the Ministry of Defence, joined a large group of Civil Servants invited by the Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, to attend a breakfast reception held in the garden of 10 Downing Street.
Between the five of us we represented the three Armed Services and the five Divisions of Dstl: Chemical, Biological and Radiological; Cyber and Information Systems; Platforms and Land Systems; Counter-Terrorism and Security, and my own Defence and Security Analysis Division. We joined our fellow Reservists and Civil Servants who in turn represented a broad cross-section of the Civil Service, from the Treasury to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well a large number of different cap badges. Several senior people across Defence were also there to show their support for the Reserve Forces, including Major General O’Leary, Deputy Commander Field Army and Head of the Army Reserve.
The Secretary of State gave a short address focusing on his gratitude for the contribution made by Reservists to Defence, but also of the added benefit they brought to their teams and positions within the Civil Service. He spoke enthusiastically of his desire to see more Civil Servants become Reservists, and for eventually a large number of senior positions in the Civil Service, including Permanent Secretaries, to be held by Reservists.
It was the kind of event that put substance to the language of “one Army” whilst recognising what the Army Reserve contributes to the civilian world that all Reservists, within and beyond the Civil Service, ultimately inhabit.
Rfn T Russell 2 Platoon
IT WAS
THE KIND OF EVENT THAT PUT SUBSTANCE TO THE LANGUAGE OF “ONE ARMY”
Rifleman and MoD civil servant Russell goes over his Company commander’s head to talk strategy at
No 10
THE RIFLES
SEVENTH BATTALION 123
Farewell, but not goodbye
This year, A Coy’s longest-serving member, LCpl ‘Frankie’ Fathers, hung up his boots after 29 years of service (joining the Royal Green Jackets in 1989). LCpl Fathers’ cooking and good humour have sustained generations of Riflemen and it was a genuine pleasure for us all to forget the sadness of his retirement by giving him the send-off he deserved. The mess was filled with his friends, family, and A Coy old hands who wanted to wish him well.
Frankie: farewell, and see you soon; we hope it will never be goodbye!
Capt R Fletcher
PSAO
LCpl ‘Frankie’ Fathers flanked by his wife and members of the Waterloo Band & Bugles signs off after serving for longer than A Coy’s Platoon commanders have lived