9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2002 - Page 0026
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2002 |
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Z4 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) beginning of April the Troop was quickly dissolved to back fill the rest of the Sqn who had been ‘stood up’ early for BATUS. The majority of the Troop went out to form Tank Coy 2 for MEDMAN 2. Alberta managed to keep morale high by provid- ing four days of continuous rain, which started on the first day of a two week long LIVEX. The Troop having dispatched the Black Watch Battle Group with consummate ease, moved on to the more refined task of becoming Recce Coy, a job which the Troop conducted with minimal sleep and maximum morale. This was the Troops finest moment ...... During MEDMAN 4/5 the Troop was provided the opportunity to conduct some Support Troop training. AT LAST. The live firing although very constrained didprovide the younger members of the Troop with the opportunity to get to grips with dash, down, crawl, sweat. The highlight of the concentration was the live firing section battle run. The 500m course is interspersed with obsta- cles the main one being a 2 coil barbed wire fence. The general idea is to send the youngest trooper to ‘Jump’ onto the fence whilst the rest of the fire-team use him as a spring board to get to the other side. Once on the far side it is up to the team to get the man off the fence, generally by grabbing his ankles and regardless of the protests pull until free. The noises that were made were fantastic, Tpr ‘Mutley’ ‘hee hee hee,’ Wykes dropped his smile for the first time, as a size 10 boot landed firmly on his back. Tpr Galsworthy could be heard from about 800m away. LAWs were fired with varying success, the Troop Leader setting an appalling example to the rest of the Troop. (The hard target was 250m away, the round landed 150m away). 51mm Mor was also fired for the first time in 10 years!! For the remainder of BATUS the Troop was spread out over OPFOR, the majority with Inf Coy 1, under the harsh regime of Capt Cathey. During the stand down period mid MEDMAN 4/5, the Troop diverged to the winds, some back to Germany, others to Vancouver and some as far away as Mexico. After a professional and painless hand over to BATUS the Troop returned to Germany showered in Glory. LCpl (now Cplll) Knowles went off to climb moun- tains in Wales, only to return through his fear of heights and sheep. The Troop has completely changed since Jan 02, Mr Searby handed over to Mr Doherty, Sgt Millar to Cpl Whitworth. Cpls Rowley and Johnson move over to B Sqn (Ha Ha). LCpl Hopkins having swanned around Jamaica, taking notes on what the poachers do, is now holding court in the Provo. Most of the junior members of the Troop remain intact. Jan 03 sees the start of a highly turbulent and frustrating year. HLS Capts Hood and Cathey and Lts Carpenter and Sea/by p/ck/ng a good spot for a p/cn/c Admin Troop Another Busy year of action packed excitement and the never-ending challenges and fastballs. Always able to pull those rabbits out of the hat and keep the SQMS train on track. Congratulations to Cpl Spike Fleetwood, who left us on promo- tion, and welcome to Cpl Pritchard, Tprs Carrol, Willis for MT, and McDonald for GW Tp. The beginning of the year began with early planning for Batus, endless briefings concerning container moves and equipment, plus preparation for Gunnery camp. Gunnery Camp went very well as did the burger stand (definitely the best in the Regiment). ‘Q’ should have stuck to the burgers instead of try- ing the cookhouse chicken and nearly choking on it. It was good to see that Sgt White and Tpr Wilson were happy to try out the hymlic after watching ‘Q’ go blue for 5 minutes. Well done to Tpr Carroll who was promoted just in time to sign off? Well- done Chad. Time then was switched to preparation for Exercise Plungers Claw, a two day exercise. The first day was a 20km march fol- lowed by a round robin day of command tasks in camp. For the Troop it meant lots of tent erecting and constant replening of food and drink to the different checkpoints and stands. Although busy a mention should go to Cpl Pritchard who thought he would find participation in the exercise more inter- esting than working with the Troop. What will you do next year Pritch? While the Troop split up and went to Batus, it was left for Q andTpr Durrance to man the fort, for the next month. A big thanks goes to Tpr Durrance who worked very hard putting in a lot of hours doing the job of 3 men. We eventually arrived in Batus in August. Although the Troop was split to the 4 winds, LCpl Carroll and Tpr Willis were still in the Troop and again through an exteamly busy period they both performed very well and worked hard. The remainder of the Troop was reinforced from other Squadrons and Troops amalgamated for Opfor. Replens were carried out on a daily basis and with the distances, terrain and difficult conditions involved, it pushed every man in the Troop to the limit. Other members of the original troop found themselves working in other departments proving again their flexibility and adapt- ability. Not only on the exercise but also in Camp working on the vehicles. On return to Hohne there again were a few more changes, Tpr McDonald who by this stage was becoming a little disillusioned was given a new lease of life with promotion, well done Mac! Tpr Willis also left on promotion, as did Q who would find him- self leaving the Troop to become RSWO. Thanks again for all of his hard work, and to Cpl Pritchard who found himself moving to Command Troop with the new RSWO. Although a hectic period SQMS Thomas did find that, having held 3 accounts, things slowly got back to normal. We found out that the new mini Q would be SSgt Snowey White and after a busy handover period the gauntlet was finally passed. As always I’ll end with the normal look forward to next year. It’s difficult to predict exactly what the year will hold, but what is certain is that no matter what the challenge the Troop will be eager to rise and meet it head on. I wish the Troop all the best as I move on to pastures green, and wish the new ships Captain all the best. Let’s hope it’s a little busier next year. Not! |
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