Unit Welfare Office by Capt Hogg UWO
Capt G R Hogg SCOTS Staff Clerk
Sgt Griffiths Cpl Webster Pte Burns Pte McEvoy
Valerie Willis
Firstly I feel very humble and very proud to write an article for The Mercian Eagle. I will try to do it justice.
Having arrived in April 08 I found the 1st Battalion near the end of an extremely successful Op TELIC tour, all be it less tasking than the 2004 operation. I was pleasantly surprised at how similar 1 Mercian were to 2 SCOTS, and refreshed to see that despite the husbands and daddies being away the character of the Mercian wives shone through, participating in all activities and giving their all to entertain the kids and themselves.
On return from Op TELIC and immediately after leave the battalion under the QM had to Arms Plot from Alma to Marne Barracks some 5 miles away. The benefit to our soldiers was SLAM accommodation and a welcome upgrade to life in general; new restaurant within a new HUB a functional gym and a new running route for “The Dog”. The downside being that families were now 5 miles away from our new office within Marne. Although this distance was substantial for the majority of wives who could not drive, a successful free shuttle service was introduced by the welfare team that has made access easier.
During this Christmas the break our office laid on a fantastic Christmas Party. The event was doubly special because
1 MERCIAN REME LAD by SSgt Jones
The LAD has seen much change in the last year with its move to Marne barracks and almost complete change around of members. SSgt Jones has been posted in as the new LAD OC with three new Craftsmen following him in the door. Work has come thick and fast in all areas, with all ranks chipping in to get the shop floor and armourers shop up and running with still a good way to go. As a whole the LAD has done an excellent job of maintaining the fleet of vehicles and weapons allowing training to go ahead with no problems.
The LAD has had tradesmen deployed to assist the Battalion on FIRIC 1, 2 and 3 with SSgt Jones, Cpl Mylchreest and Cpl Hobbs deploying. Cpl Mylchreest doing an outstanding job of getting a fleet of vehicles which had seen better days completely up and running all fully fit. The OC LAD even helping with the enemy on A Company’s exercise. Sgt Roebuck and the rest of the LAD held the fort back in Catterick providing support to the rest of the Battalion.
We welcome into the LAD Craftsmen Deng and Searle who are both Armourers and Craftsman Moore who has arrived from Bordon as a new vehicle mechanic and is already away on his SV maintainer’s course back at Bordon.
This year is going to be a very busy period getting everyone trained and completing the necessary courses ready for deployment in 2010.
The Mercian Eagle October 2009 29
the spouses were away in Op TELIC the year previous. The day was a sensational success with a Magician and magic show for entertainment, the typical bill of fare and our very own Pte Burns giving Santa the day off, put the proverbial icing on the cake.
We, 1 Mercian were graced by the decision that we would inherit a Gurkha Reinforcement Company just before Christmas. This would bring nearly forty families to the battalions’ bosom and with it some culture. Already the young Nepalese wives are taking part in coffee mornings and introducing clothes making and cooking techniques to an inquisitive Home County audience.
Our small team has been extremely busy as usual supporting our soldiers and their families, especially when the battalion was on Ex Suman Warrior in sunny New Zealand and during the Op FIRIC tour through Christmas till May. As always the ever changing, ever evolving welfare forecast of events with the constant challenge to do it different, do it cheaper, do it FREE takes up a surprising amount of time and effort and then.....2 people turn up for an event. Patience is a virtue, as Welfare Teams only know to well!
There are clearly some exciting times ahead for the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, the ongoing Op Firic tour and Ex Grand Prix in late summer. This by the nature of ‘being busy’ means that we will step up our game as ever to facilitate the demands of young families to keep them as busy. With our new setup and new Wives Club all the preparation is in place to provide the first class service that we are renowned for.
Next year provides an ever familiar challenge of an operational tour, this time Op HERRICK. We will look to the experiences of 2 Mercian Welfare team to help us with best practice to get through this difficult time.
At time of going to print I will have moved back to The Royal Regiment of Scotland as a Recruiting Officer. I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to the officers, soldiers and families of the 1st Bn on making me feel welcome as a Mercian.
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