Staff and Personnel Support Branch


By Brigadier Caroline Hull


By the time this Journal is published, I will have passed the Head of Profession baton to Brigadier Andrew Griffiths OBE. As others have said, the time just seems to flash by, but as I approach the end of my Army career and reflect on my tenure, I celebrate the health of SPS Branch, the outstanding quality of our soldiers and officers and the privilege it has been to serve the Branch.


Nothing is ever plain sailing I became Head of Profession in February 2020. The world was COVID-free, briefly. With a new SPS Branch Sergeant Major about to take up post, and a change of Branch Colonel due in summer 2020, I was upbeat. Then lockdown happened and yet fantastically, it just brought the best out in you all, your ingenuity shone through in delivering despite the challenges. The queue for a My MODNet Laptop might have been a long one, but you still got the job done, with new ways of working and the growing realisation that virtual communications meant we could keep in touch and engage: Branch Seminars, awards ceremonies, quizzes, and routine work were undertaken in ways we had not conceived months earlier. You adapted and overcame, despite the frictions and the psychological, as well as the viral, threats. Your tenacity ensured the Army continued to operate whilst many of you also mobilised both in and out of trade on Operation RESCRIPT. Soldiers first, trade technicians always, values and standards to the fore. Then there was the summer of 2021, when SPS soldiers and officers deployed on or in support of Operation PITTING once again demonstrating the importance of our role, enabling the deployed force as well as directly supporting Afghan evacuees. I was exceptionally proud not just of our female SPS soldiers recognised for their role within female search teams but also all those who undertook roles that did not attract the spotlight. Our operational footprint remains worldwide, reinforcing our place in the Army’s ORBAT.


Playing our part in Future Soldier Though it started much earlier, 2021 was when the rubber hit the road for the Personnel Administration Capability Review (PACR). This project will have far-reaching implications for our workforce, as well as our function in the wider Army. Alongside other Arms and Services, we have had to take our share of workforce reductions but the introduction of new technologies alongside a changing culture across the Army creates the opportunity to eliminate low value, mandraulic activities and free up time to focus on the business critical.


Brigadier Caroline Hull enjoying the Solent during Adventurous Training, summer 2022.


The reorganisation of our Unit structures (the traditional SPS Detachment) has understandably provoked much debate: are our most junior soldiers up for working independently in Sub-Units? Can our Staff Sergeants oversee public and


14 AGC JOURNAL 2022


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