Page 53 - AGC Journal 2018

AGC JOURNAL 2018

North Atlantic Treaty Service Custody

Organisation Facility

Headquarters Northern Ireland

By Warrant Officer Class 1 Woody Woodruff and Staff Sergeant Izzy Qalo By Sergeant Catherine Wear

From the old to the new Headquarters Events and Activities in Service Custody Facility Northern Ireland

All Change Structure of the building: eight long wings and four short Staffi ng Deep River Rock Belfast Marathon on 7th May 2018 in an
wings. impressive time of 3 Hours 54 minutes 17 seconds. This is a

Timeline – January 2018. No other Unit, Brigade or Division Currently sitting at eight staff we have three Corporals who brave soldier that deliberately decides to run through the
Headquarters is a match in size or strength to NATO Agora, a central hallway linking all wings. are studying degrees, one who is on a long-term Gas and streets of Belfast.
Headquarters. Percentage wise, there are more civilians Engineering course and four who regularly take short term

than military personnel. Whilst we were still getting used Seven floors in the long wings, four in the short wings. training opportunities. Corporal Marc Walkington took part in the Triple Crown,

to the size of the building and our new roles, only to be his team finished 11th. Corporal Jack Calver took part in
told that we were going to be moving to the New NATO Eighteen conference rooms. Courses the Nijmegen Marches, but due to injury he was unable to

Headquarters across the road soon. finish, he worked hard and is to be congratulated on his

The unit has a healthy balance of Personal Development efforts.
Building Work versus Custody Training. Throughout the year the team
has been steadily striving to improve as Custodians. Corporal Kafoa Fatiaki and Corporal Jone Leweni
Since NATO’s inception in 1952 the number of members has Although our manning has been better, we managed to represented the Regiment at the Inter Services Rugby
nearly doubled, hence the need for a new Headquarters, and attend the study days at the Military Corrective Training Sevens, by all accounts they were not to be messed with on
in December 2010 construction began. Just over seven years Centre in Colchester. For the first time we have Corporal the pitch.

later the building had its first occupants. Tankabahadur Tembe and Corporal Jone Leweni qualified as
Assistant Equality Diversity and Inclusion Advisors. Visits
The Move

Activities We hosted the new Officer Commanding, Captain Nathan

To help facilitate such a grand move, Sergeant Liam Marsom and Staff Sergeant Robert Bainbridge; the team
Grimmer, Sergeant Antony Smith and us were volunteered Corporal Tankabahadur Tembe successfully completed the enjoyed the visit and the day was completed with some
to be Movement Coordinators, there to help facilitate wonderful Nepalese food.
the smooth transition from the old to the new. Our
administrative experience helped in ensuring all the
Departments and Personnel were transitioned over to the
new Headquarters during April and May 2018 in good order
with minimum disruption.
A Green Building
The new Headquarters has been designed and built with
the environment in mind. It reduces energy use thanks to
extensive thermal insulation, solar-glazing protection and
advanced lighting systems. The windows installed in the
building allow it to take maximum advantage of natural
light, reducing consumption of electricity. State of the art
cogeneration units provide most of the electricity and
heating used on site. A geothermal heating and cooling
system uses the constant temperature beneath the surface
of the ground to provide heat during the winter and to cool
the building in summer. A system of rainwater collection
and storage supplies 90% percent of the water needed for
the bathrooms, cleaning and landscaping.
Facts and figures

Gross surface area: over 254,000 m2 of floor space - 80% Fakoa Fatiaki at the Tankabahadur

bigger than the old Headquarters. Inter Service Rugby Tembe at the
Sevens Belfast Marathon
Glass surface area: 72,000 m2

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