9th-12th-Lancers - Year 1985 - Page 0005
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1985 |
| Transcription |
THE 9THKI2TH ROYAL LANCERS REGIMENTAL JOURNAL Foreword by the Colonel of the Regiment It is nearly four years sinCe I tool: over from General Abraham and in a few months I shall be handing over to C01 Woodhead. The duties of the Colonel of the Regiment are not onerous; perhaps, like the Munarch with the Prime Minister, he has the right to be consulted, to advise and to warn but his main respOnsibility is the provision of a steady supply of young officers for service with the Regiment. I have enjoyed doing all this immensely and particularly the annual visit to the Regiment which my wife and I look forward to with special pleasure. To return to Wolfenbuttel after twenty seven years absence and to find nothing changed except the pace of military life is exhilarating. It is this continuity of standards, of style and of courtesy which is so heart-warming and so envied by other NATO armies. All I can predict as I hand over is that Foreword by the Commanding Officer We have had a most rewarding year, which is fully covered in this excellent journal. Wolfenbuttel continues to be idyllic in that the local community are pleased to see and welcome us and military interference from elsewhere is much less than that found in the larger garrisons. Nevertheless the responsibil- ity that falls on the key personnel such as the adjutant. doctor and quarter- master is demanding and unremitting professional way that they look after us despite the strain which tells on anyone three quarters of the way through a long BAOR tour of 9 years. 1984 was dominated by the Corps Exercise Lionheart with Regimental Training not far from Wolfcnbuttel. It was a year without a summer in Germany and Wolfenbuttel lived up to its reputation of the town with the least hours of sunshine in Germany. We continue to devolve responsibility to non commissioned officers who often have to work independently as a half- troop, and the results and benefits are noteworthy. When seen in the context that they number half our strength this must be wise, and now that the Regiment fields forty half-troops there remains ample Opportunity for the exercise of initiative. quick-thinking I and confidence to seize the fleeting opportunity. - and we all owe our thanks to their service to us and our families for the Now that we are spared the rigours of the annual visit to the Soltau Training Area and the disruption of sending small parties to Suffield in Canada the whole Regiment is able to train together in exciting terrain. In 1985 Troop, Squadron and Regimental Training were held in the Schwabische Alb — a high plateau between Stuttgart and Lake Constance. As most had honed their primary role to a sharp edge during the work-up to Lionheart we concentrated on our secondary tasks. working predominantly in half-tr00ps, astride the Danube Valley. Troop Tests were ambitious. exhausting and reveal- ing in that the standards of training were very high. From a morale viewpoint the reductions of Local Overseas Allowance and increase in subsistance charges have been a depressing factor. The shock has been considerable to families with children of boarding school age of the discovery that on moving to Wolfen- buttel those children must board either at Rheindahlen or in the United King- dom. However the Regiment is still over-strength although not in the NCO and Officer ranks and it is on the latter that much of the consequent stress fails. I therefore wish to thank all those who are contributing toward the alleviation of some of the responsibility and stress from the ‘few’ to the ‘many’ and to assure them that it is having a most beneficial and stimulating effect. we are going to have to continue to fight to retain all those things we cherish most in our regimental system against the incessant demands of rationalisation and standardisation so dear to the mind of the Bureaucrat. I would like to thank all ranks for their contribution to our way of life, it entails unsclfishness and service of a high order. It has been a great honour for me to serve the Regiment as Colonel and to meet all those who are going to carry its traditions on into the future. Good luck. i see our young NCOs acting as splendid ambassadors of the Regiment in all sorts of roles and I hope you all feel as proud of their achievements. No profession is rewarding without plenty of fun and the opportunity to relax. We aim to promote this by work- ing ‘summer hours’ until September leaving the afternoons free for sport and family. The volleyball and ski teams‘ successes are well covered in this issue and recreation is thriving. Our military success as we go to print is to have come second in the Inter- national Reconnaissance Competition in our first entry, against 22 teams from most of the NATO Armies which in- cluded Turkey. France, Belgium, Holland, USA, Canada. Italy and ten Bundeswehr teams. We cengratulate Major Burgess as manager and Lt Martin and his team on their success - winning the cross-country obstacle course event outright and coming second in night Orienteering and enemy recognition events. Their high standard of training. fitness and dedication act as a stimulus to us all to strive for such unique professional standards in the future. |
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