9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2004 - Page 0013
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Transcription |
REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) ll volunteered for another 6 months in Iraq (mad man) and Tpr Roe moved to SHQ. After leave the Tp formed up again with the additions of Tprs King, Smith, Gilbert, Orton and Cooke before deploying to southern Germany on Ex SWABIAN LANCE. The highlight was watching England play and win in Euro 2004 from an old Schloss perched on a hillside overlooking miles of fantastic scenery, the low point watching England getting knocked out a week later! Oh, and the exercise wasn’t bad either! On our return the ever-present Tp Sgt, Sgt Motum, was posted on pro- motion to the TA as an instructor, we wish him all the best and welcome his replacement Sgt Galley. Cpl Williams moved on to a gun tp prior to transferring to become a combat chef! This leaves Cpl Potter and Tpr Hicken as the longest serving mem- bers of the Tp. Tpr Flude has continued in his quest to try and kill the Tp Ldr with his somewhat adventurous driving style and Tpr Atterbury remains preferring to be known as the strong silent type! We all now await the impact that 2005 will have on the Tp. GW Troop This year has been one of change and restructure for GW Tp: Starting half way through Op TELIC 3 under the command of Capt ‘my way or no way’ Milne Home and Sgt “Mr Motivator” Edwards the Tp had a successful tour conducting search ops, drug busts, and VCP’s not to mention training the Iraqi Police Force for the last 2 months of the tour. It was at this time LCpl Nash (the Sqn PTI) challenged an Iraqi policeman to a press up competition, needless to say Nash lost so Tpr ‘]acko’ Jackson challenged the same policeman and won, even while wearing his webbing, body armour and with his Minimi strapped to his back! 2Lt Richmond and Tpr Tawaketini, both looking fresh faced and full of expectations, bolstered the Tp halfway through the tour. Mr Richmond managed to get the dreaded bug and was heard explaining to the Tp Sgt how he couldn’t do QRF as he was too poorly and would much rather read his book in bed! LCpl ‘short tour’ Stevens departed early to get the vehicles back into use ready for the Tp’s return to sunny Hohne, and to decide what career path he wants to take (REME, PT Corps or the Women’s Auxiliary Balloon Corps?!). Tpr Quinn deserves a spe- cial mention for attempting to bump start his Land Rover, with the clutch in and no gear selected, much to the joy of Tpr Tawaketini who had pushed the vehicle for 100 metres in the midday sun! Immediately upon our return, Capt M-H left the troop to become C Sqn’s 2IC (good luck - C Sqn!). Tpr ‘Ned’ Kelly enjoyed the Tp Ldr’s company so much that he decided to fol- low him; LCpl ‘rat boy’ Nash left us for a cheers easy in the SQMS and Tpr ‘how’s my tan’ King went to Sp Tp. In replace- ment the Tp gained LCpl ‘I like pies’ Hobson and Tpr Neal. After a quick spot of well deserved POTL the Tp then sadly said farewell to Cpl ‘just say what you feel’ Fox, who left for Norway to become Maj Gen Short’s brew boy on promotion. We all wish him well. June saw the Tp deploy on EX SWABIAN LANCE in Bavaria, under the command of 2Lt Harcus from the Light Dragoons. This of course had its moments. Yet again Tpr ‘Bagpuss’ Horne managed to live up to his name, sleeping instead of looking out for the enemy...again! Tp tests saw Tpr Quinn try to negotiate the k bahns cargo net but the rope couldn’t cope with the weight and saw him coming back to earth with a thump and torn liga- ments leaving GW Tp with a man down after stand 1! Cpl ‘why me’ Kaminski decided that a bit of morale was needed whilst carrying out an OP so he managed to talk a local into giving him a lift to the local Pizzeria, unbeknown to him, some 20 km’s away. Much to the Tp Ldrs relief he eventually returned 2 hours later with all the relevant items for the England match! Immediately upon our return from exercise, GW Tp swapped cam cream for Best Parade Order. Even Tpr Quinn somehow managed to look smart with his nice shiny new ribbon. Between drill rehearsals Sgt ‘Carol Smilie’ Edwards and Cpl ‘handy Andy’ Kaminski renovated the Sqn bar. After summer leave Sgt Edwards left the Tp to become the RSM’s sidekick and in replacement saw the newly promoted Sgt ‘this isn’t SHQ’ Pritchard arrive with Tprs Ward and McCabe coming straight from training. LCpl Damo Hill is to be congratulated on com- ing back from leave to find a Cpl’s rank slide in his box of corn- flakes. A very successful Annual Live Firing for the Tp led to a slightly disappointing display of missile reliability on the Sqn live firing battle run, but you can’t have everything! SHQ Troop There has been, as ever, considerable change in SHQ Tp over the year - some 39 people in all have passed through our hal- lowed door - 24 have moved on! The OC has changed; the SSM has changed, twice! The 2IC has changed, the Tp Sgt and most of the boys have moved on; in fact there are only a few surviv- ing members since the beginning of the year: Cpl (Leftie) Wright being one, now acting as Tp Sgt after Sgt Rhodes was promoted and moved to the Signals School in Bovington, and LCpl ‘Dangerous Dave’ Coleman being the other. The first four months of the year were spent in Iraq, with Maj Robinson and SSM Keeney at the helm. The SSM handed over to SSM Stone and he in turn handed over to SSM Clarke, all in the space ofa few weeks! Maj Fuller took over as OC, seeing out the last 6 weeks of the tour. Op TELIC 3 saw SHQ Tp split between the Ops Rm and the OC’s Rover Group. Some people rarely left camp (notably Capt Everett, who was usually other- wise engaged with elements of the RA Phoenix Battery!) Others like the OC’s Rover Gp were often out and about, especially on ‘s**t food Saturdays’. They could usually be found in Kuwait eating burgers, ice cream and cookies at Camp Navistar, with SSM Keeney at the front of the queue! Sgt Rhodes led as Tp Sgt for the entire tour and turned the Sqn Ops room into the best Ops room, ever. Apparently it wasn’t simply an Ops room but more of an Incident Management cen- tre! (No prizes for guessing who thought of that!) Well done to Cpl Wilkinson, LCpl Hughes, LCpl Brindle Tpr Marvin and Tpr Burn who “stagged on” 24/7 for 6 months rarely seeing the light of day, a ‘sweet job!’ After a very enjoyable period of POTL, the Tp quickly readied itself for Ex SWABIAN LANCE 04, a 3 week Regtl FTX in southern Germany. This was to be Capt Everett’s last act as 2IC before moving on to be Adjutant, with Capt E-B waiting in the wings (having first been dragged out of his Scimitar kicking and screaming!) The Tp had a successful and enjoyable exercise with only a few minor dramas with comms (SSM - you signals bloke!). Annual Live Firing went very well with SHQ Tp manning the CV and the tower. SSgt Bowers joined us from ARMTAT work- ing hard to ensure we had a successful and smooth firing period until LCpl Reynolds, clearly not wanting him to leave, decided to crash his Land Rover, well done the new OC’s driver! Tpr ‘Cod’ Roe should be congratulated on proving his pyrotechnical abilities by starting the coal burner in the tower in just a few minutes ready for night firing, just after the 2 IC had spent 3 hrs trying without any success (Note to self7 use copious amounts of Coleman’s fuel in future!). SHQ Tp are now looking forward to Christmas, and readying themselves for Op TELIC 7 next year! |
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