9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2002 - Page 0031
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2002 |
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REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) Z9 Measurement of Fighting Power Inspection was taken, “just to get it out of the way”. Thank you RAO! Meanwhile the “Always Gapped Corps”, became true to it’s name by saying farewell to Cpl “Jackie Brown” Anderson who was the first to depart. She headed off on promotion to become a Ch Clk with 28 Engr Regt LAD in Hameln, swiftly followed by Sgt John “Who are you” Kemp who left rather earlier than expected on discharge, to embark on career supporting Bill Gates at Microsoft, failing that he would act as a Chauffer in his BMW X5 (Good pension scheme)? Coupled with this our manning plot for Germany and BATUS was again restructured with another change within the RAOWO post. WOZ “No Jeans, I dress like an Officer” Bamford had been selected for promotion to WOl (SSM) and would be leaving the Regt in the summer, after only a brief stay, to take up the post of Visiting Warrant Officer (Documents) in Osnabruck. Added to this the Det Comd Capt “Bend it like Beckham” Grover depart- ed on a diplomatic mission to ensure that British Sovereignty in Gibraltar was maintained. A depleted Det required urgent reinforcements and luckily this call was answered with the first in, all the way from Celle, LCpl Denise “You’ll find me on my NAAFI Break” Leech, who instantly took up the reins of SSA. She was followed by the new Det Comd Capt (T— K) Thomassen- Kinsey who must have won- dered just what had he arrived into, as by this time the advance party of Sgt Bob Wetherall, LCpl “Manny” Mann and Pte Rocky Dickson had departed for Canada, without the financial support of the RAO Capt Ben Bennington. Meanwhile while in Hohne, it was a case of all hands to the pumps, out in Canada it was relatively peaceful with the takeover of offices producing just a few surprises, mainly revolv- ing around the archaic level of IT support. For a while it was wondered if we should sign out a hammer and chisel to enable Part One Orders to be etched onto tablets of stone! (Not that anyone would read them anyway!!!) In summary during the BATUS deployment, most of the Det got a chance to serve in the temperate climate of Canada, whether it is for just 3 weeks (RAO 7 he swears it was 6) or the whole 9 months. The grand opening of Arkwright’s corner shop (Regt Admin Office) with the practice of “Open all Hours” was quickly adopted to cater for 24 hr support in all fields ofadmin- istration. Added to this, watchkeeping, radio stags and even payments in the field and the Med Man phases were certainly busy. But it certainly was not a case of all work and no play, as welcomed periods of standowns and Adv Trg were utilised to the full. LCpl “Van Diesel XXX” Mann managed to not only snow- board down the mountains but also took to the art of falling out of as many perfectly serviceable aircraft as possible. While Sgt Bob “Just call me Chief” Wetherall decided to work on his ski- ing technique, with more emphasis needed on stopping drills! The FSA WOZ “I can make a profit here” Warren, during his tour as OPFOR RAO decided to conquer the rivers of the Rockies with a canoeing expedition, however he was not sure if he had made the right choice when told his mandatory swim test had to be completed in a semi frozen lake, followed by a jump into the “widow maker”. Both Officers however during their respective tours, decided to take a more sedate approach to Adv Trg (and that does not include visits to certain establishments in Medicine Hat (Op Banker)) with sightseeing tours of both Canada and Northern USA. Meanwhile back at Hohne ranch, the Det continued to both lose and gain personnel, with the departures of LCpl’s “Smurfett” Crouch and “Crash Test Dummy” Atherton, both leaving for far away fields (Fallingbostel), the Baby Boom trend has continued with Pte Rocky Dickson, who now leaves the Det for sunny Northern Ireland. We wish them all well for the future. Arrivals have included, the new RAOWO, WOZ “By the way I am getting commissioned and I am off in April” Andy Thomson, who is the fourth occupant of this post in 3 years, Sgt “So how does UNICOM work” Paula Worden, Cpl “Meep Meep (Road Runner)” Stiles and straight from the factory Pte “Sporty Spice” Turner and Pte “Worzel” Bennett. Pte Bennett, although still awaiting her MFO, was quickly deployed to BATUS for only a brief 3-week period. Within this period she not only managed to mis-place her Beret, Purse and ID card, when she returned from an evening drinking coke in Medicine Hat, but also managed to attend an introductorypara- chuting course including “Lower Limb Injuries from a great height”. With BATUS complete, and the Det back in the fold, we prepare for the challenges ahead. However one of our numbers, SSgt “You Lucky Git” Adair has already purchased his sun block ready to take up his new post in Saudi Arabia. (Mar Is Salama). With Christmas looming all personnel are looking forward to a welcome break, only to return to uncertain times in the New Year with possible challenges of Back to Back Bosnia Tours, De- Centralisation, MFPI, and further operational taskings. Light Aid Detachment Repairing The Enemy In early March 2002 an activation party embarked on the start of a new venture for the LAD, providing equipment support for OPFOR during the new BATUS training season. The LAD activation party, under the command of WOl (ASM) Larsen, had the unenviable role of preparing the vehicles and dealing with tasks not completed by the BATUS Winter Repair Programme. A task that was completed admirany The main body arrived in early April and after the jet lag and induction pleasantries we were ready to take our place with the activation party as the OPFOR Maintenance Group. One of the initial tasks for the lads of the Maint Group was to acquire some transport. It was established that the normal procedure was to get involved in a vehicle syndicate and not to have too high expectations. The Maint Group soon established a monopoly on “BATUS bangers”, which was very convenient. The next few weeks consisted of preparation for OPFOR beat up training. This involved carrying out final repairs and the fitting of the DEFWES equipment by the vehicle crews under the supervi- sion of the resident DEFWES “gurus”, SSgt Danny Boland and Sgt “Mac” McLenahen. The LAD under d/sorete attack |
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