‘D’ Company by Maj J Nicholls
D (Dragon) Company has had an extremely busy year. The heavy commitment of Land Warfare Centre (LWC) BG had hardly finished for many elements of the Company when they packed up and moved to Germany. On arrival, the tempo increased even further with preparations for BATUS.
The time spent as LWC BG was a testing time for the individual Platoons. Each vied to be the most heavily tasked each month. Tasks varied from range safety tasks to conventional tasks, to rôle playing in the Contemporary Operating Environment. The quality of tasking varied. Technical and tactical were sternly tested and the Platoons were not found wanting. Patience was also sorely tested at times as members of Company spent weeks dressed as Afghans, living in iso-containers in snow, carrying out “pattern of life” for troops soon to be deployed on Op Herrick.
Javelin Platoon Pl Comd:
Pl 2ic:
The Recce Platoon had many opportunities to practice their core skills and proved to be reliable, resourceful and extremely competent. On many occasions, single Recce vehicles proved they were able to decisively influence the battlespace against experienced Battalions. Javelin Platoon proved their worth on countless occasions as a virtually impenetrable ISTAR screen. Mortar Platoon was busier than most and last to come off the Plain after elements of the Battalion had already left for Germany. On arrival in Germany, the Company had a great deal of success on the PJNCO Cadre resulting in the promotions of LCpls Coxon, Cooper, Ganderton, Guest, Lagi Lagi, Murphy, Sharpley, Shaw, Ware and Woodley, all of whom are to be congratulated.
Concurrently, new soldiers to the Company were busy getting to grips with armoured vehicles in preparation for BATUS in the
summer. Support Weapon Cadres were carried out in the New Year and Sniper Platoon reformed under WO2 Dunne, who is welcomed from 1 MERCIAN. In some of the coldest weather and heaviest snow Germany had seen in years, every man excelled during the Cadres. It was hard not to feel humbled at the resilience of a very young Sniper Platoon carrying out day after day of stalks through snow in temperatures down to -15ºC.
BATUS will be completed over the summer, followed immediately by a switch of focus to the coming tour of Afghanistan in early 2011. Rôles will change, endless vehicle training will continue, and the tempo will continue to be relentless. Nonetheless, the Company is working hard and, with the focus narrowing to Op Herrick, the future is exciting.
Capt J Ballard WO2 D Thomson
The clear indicator of the character and style of the men of Javelin Platoon is that, despite an incredibly frustrating time as the LWC Battlegroup, they still managed to perform admirably, earning plaudits from all those who worked with them. Each and every man should be proud of his achievements and the legacy that we as a Platoon left behind. The past eight months have been a very disjointed period for the Platoon with the Platoon Commander and 2ic being away throughout much of it. Sgt Williams and Sgt Bowles have done much to ensure the smooth running of the Platoon in all aspects of their work.
With a reasonably smooth transition to Germany completed, we set about enjoying all that our new home had to offer. A Platoon day out at the indoor snow dome at Bispingen proved to be very successful and proved that the fearless nature of the men is alive and well with Pte Newton singled out for his particularly determined skiing despite virtually no tuition. Further proof was apparent on the high diving board at Fallingbostel outdoor pool by LCpl Davies. It was not long, however, before the usual pace of life returned and the Platoon was split to the four winds on various different activities. Newly promoted LCpls Lagilagi, Ware and Guest are to be thoroughly commended for their sterling performance on the Battalion JNCO Cadre as is Pte Letts who will no doubt have been promoted by the time this article goes to press. Well done to you all.
68 October 2010
Cpl Matthews
Cpl Matthews and new arrival, Cpl Jackson, worked tirelessly to guide the Battalion through various different driving qualifications although I believe that Cpl Matthews volunteered for this so that he could wear his rather fetching Manchester City tracksuit a little more. Sgt Williams completed Senior LFTT and is one step closer to a place on Senior tactics if he can make the timings. At the start of January, Sgt Williams, Cpl Lennon and Cpl Goffe attended and passed AASAA further adding to the growing flexibility of the JNCOs. Special mention must also be given to Sgt Bowles who has practically run the Platoon since September and is now very adept at battling crocodiles away from the collective canoe.
A basic Javelin operator cadre and a patrol competition took us into a well-deserved Christmas break and 2010. All those who returned were then deployed with A Company to Sennelager for an extremely demanding FTX and range package. My thanks go to Sgt Bowles, Cpl Sutherland and the JNCOs for making sure that the training was completed to a very high standard and that the morale and safety of the men was paramount at all times. Furthermore, Cpl Matthews can now demonstrate the correct drills for employing a secondary weapon. Further CT1 and 2 training has led us to our
Pte Swinfield and LCpl Guest
forthcoming deployment to BATUS where the Platoon will be supporting two Prairie Thunder exercises in a three month deployment. As ever, the Platoon will approach these new challenges with professionalism, determination and with Cpl Joynes, who has returned from Catterick to start some real work. Finally, we say goodbye to Capt Ballard who has been replaced by Capt Causer and to WO2 Thomson who has moved to C Company. His efforts have been greatly appreciated and have ensured that the Platoon has completed the last six months in extremely good order. We owe him a huge debt of thanks. Other soldiers who left us are LCpl Joshua, Pte Fitzpatrick, Pte Whitehurst, Pte Dasousa and Pte Rawle: best of luck to you all.
LCpl Wright is exceedingly happy The Mercian Eagle
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