ticket, navigated the German railway and tube system and arranged his own return to Fallingbostel. This may sound trivial to those who frequently use rail travel in the UK but to a lad from Stoke on Trent - Lt Flackett - getting to grips with foreign travel early has paid dividends since.
Changes from LWC BG
Being in an operational Brigade has meant that the pace of life has increased. Physical training has focused on adding to the Battalion’s physical endurance and robustness with a look forward to our deployment to BATUS in Summer 2010. As a Platoon and with the rest of the Company, we have trained over a variety of distances ranging from 2, 5 to 8 miles, culminating in the ACFT 2 which consisted of 12 miles with 57 lbs on day 1 and 12 miles with 37 lbs on day 2. The end result was sore feet, sore shoulders and a lot of pride at being the only Battalion to have completed the ACFT 2 in the Garrison.
The Future
Deployment to BATUS is imminent: three months on the rolling plains of Canada, live firing both armoured and light rôle, compound clearances and, at the end, a variety of adventure training expeditions to look forward to such as parachuting, canoeing, white water rafting, horse trekking, and alpine climbing. With BATUS complete, 3 MERCIAN will be one step closer to deploying, to Afghanistan for the first time since 1919.
The Eagle has landed! 8 Platoon
by Lt J Coutts As our time in Tidworth drew to a close and the Arms Plot move began to get into full swing, 8 Platoon found itself fighting a rear guard action amongst the continuing LWC commitments. Indeed, the last couple of exercises were conducted after the point at which all other helmets, webbing, weapons and Warrior AFVs had been either packed up and shipped out or handed over to the RRF. In some cases, soldiers spent as much as three weeks living in rooms which had been stripped bare of kit, furniture and bed clothes ready for the handover, prior to departing on summer leave.
On arrival in Germany, the pace of life continued to be hectic. In addition to resuming training immediately, guards and duties and all other aspects of Battalion life, we had to get to grips with the differences of living and working in a new country with a different language and culture. There was also the new camp to take over and many areas required a fair amount of work before they were ready, presentable and in
The Mercian Eagle
a fit state to use. Some buildings and rooms needed completely refitting, a task which often took place after work, at evenings and at weekends. At the same time, we were coming to realise that the resources we had available to us, particularly in terms of stores and transport, were significantly less than we had been able to call upon in Tidworth. Although 8 Platoon was a relatively stable formed unit in terms of its membership, we were slightly disrupted in the period from Summer up until Christmas by some or all of the Platoon Commander, Platoon Sergeant, Warrior Sergeant and senior Section Commanders being away at any one time. This was due either to courses, adventure training or instructing on the PJNCO cadre. Lt Coutts was particularly gutted to have to deploy for three weeks in November to go sunbathing/climbing in South Africa (see report elsewhere).
As the only full Corporal left in the Platoon, Cpl Smith was called to step up time and again (which he did, as always, without the merest purr of complaint - it was more of a growl!). There were also a number of courses of various lengths in camp, in Germany or back in UK on which individual Pte soldiers and JNCOs were sent to gain new skills and qualifications. These included Regimental Signals Cadres, Warrior Driving and Maintenance and Gunnery courses, Sniper/Sharpshooter courses and Team Medic courses. All these factors combined to mean that there was very little in terms of a settled routine or normal pattern of work for the Platoon in camp in the period up until Christmas leave. Shortly before leave, we had to say goodbye to LCpl Fowkes, Pte Wayte and Pte Wilkinson who were chosen to move across to strengthen Recce Pl, and to Pte Charlesworth who moved to Signals Pl.
Following Christmas leave, we welcomed Cpl Brookes back to the Battalion from ITC Catterick and immediately launched into a long series of one week focused training periods designed to allow the Platoons and Company to train together, rather than as a group of individuals. This included a significant period of time in Sennelager, training on CAST, CATT and both blank and live tactical training out on the training area as well as some character-building early morning PT in temperatures down to -16ºC. At the time of writing, we are finishing this
period off with some more light rôle range work/exercises and Warrior ranges in the form of the Annual Crew Test. These weeks have served to prepare as best as possible for the forthcoming exercises in BATUS after Easter leave.
9 Platoon
by Lt J Codling 9 Platoon have enjoyed a near seamless transition from Tidworth into their new rôle as C Company’s Assault Pioneer experts. The Platoon has welcomed a good number of new Full Time Reserve of Service (FTRS) members plus Ptes Fletcher, Smith, Lock, Kelsall and Harper from Catterick. Cpl Sweete was posted back to the Battalion following a successful period as an instructor at ITC Catterick.
The period before Christmas was used to settle in to life in 7 Brigade and to conduct a lot of fitness and general low level training. 1 (Assault Pioneer) Section was also established under the leadership of our resident Cockney geezer, LCpl Mills, with members of the Platoon achieving top results on their qualifying course. We can now boast the only fully qualified Assault Pioneer Section in the Battalion and they are looking forward to putting their newly acquired skills to use in BATUS and beyond. The Platoon was sad to say goodbye to LCpls Bryan and Maddock upon their promotion from the 3 MERCIAN JNCO cadre in November (LCpl Bryan was top of the course) but was pleased to welcome LCpl Knowles from 8 Platoon. The Platoon has shaped up well since Christmas during a period of training in freezing Sennelager. The dismounts, under Sgt Timperley, conducted some extremely worthwhile Platoon level light-rôle training in difficult conditions whilst the crews participated in C Company and 9th/12th Royal Lancers Battlegroup CATT exercises. It has not been all work though; 9 Platoon members found time to go climbing in South Africa, hill walking in the Hartz Mountains and ski racing in Val d’Isère whilst LCpl Davis and Pte Taylor qualified recently as All Arms Physical Training Instructors.
The Platoon is looking forward to its prolonged stint in BATUS before kicking into some pre-deployment training upon our return.
Lt Codling OC 9 Pl
Sgt Scott teaching armoured tactics in CATT October 2010 67
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