9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2003 - Page 0012
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2003 |
| Transcription |
10 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) one target house, and an escalating level of force is used, up to in one case, crashing a Spartan through the front gate. Most of us will remember the excitement ofpreparing together for these ops in the Squadron Hangar, everyone pulling together, the sense of cohesion and urgencypalpable in the air. Coupled with many hours oflow level Chinook flights, Rigid Raiderboat trips and three-day long range desert patrols, the boys are having the time of their lives, on this very pure operation, which requires imagination and energy from junior commanders. At the time of writing we are facing the prospect of handling, practically at Squadron level, the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca which could see more than 30,000 people squeezing through Safwan, as a US Army Corps passage of lines of over 100,000 troops takes place a kilometre away. The thin red and yellow line just got thinner, but ‘Easy Company’ will rise to the chal- lenge, as ever. Recent departures form the Squadron include SSgt Pegg who has been replaced by SSgt Mallin as SQMS, WO2 Keeney has been replaced as SSM by WO2 Stone, SSgt Ingram soon takes over as 3 Troop Sgt from Sgt Linwood and next month Maj Fuller assumes command from Maj Robinson. Our ranks have been swelled for the tour by many good men from HQ Squadron, the QOY, 3 PWRR, l WFR and 1 BW, who have become integral parts of A Squadron’s tour in Southern Iraq. 1 Troop In April of this year the Troop returned from UK on OP FRES- CO straight into Exercise TRIANGLE BRIDGE (after a secret squirrel Group with the OC, aboard I’&O ferries). The exer- cise went really well, apart from for Cpl Milne who had a con- tact (no, not with a water bowser! but with a very angry local and a dozen eggs). LCpl Hancock took one on the chin protecting his Troop Leader, Lt Eyre-Brook. We also welcomed Tpr Newsum into the Troop straight from training. We moved onto Gunnery Camp (sorry the Live Firing Exercise!) with the majority of the Troop (apart from our resi- dent Gunnery Instructor; no names mentioned Cpl Dalton) achieving a Troop Level 6 on both ACT and AST. Congratulations go to Tpr Watson for achieving the highest score in the Sqn on ACT. In June the Troop deployed to Sennelager to participate in some high tech war fighting in the CATT, which ended with C Sqn getting a whole lot of 30mm loving from 1 Troop. We welcomed Tpr Smith 005 from SHQ Tp and Tpr Palmer from Support Troop. We also said goodbye to Tpr Miles (to C Sqn) Tpr Burn (to SHQ) and Tpr Posey. July once more again saw us back in Sennelager to complete our OPTAG training in order for us to deploy to Bosnia fully trained. During the first serial Capt (they give it to anybody these days) Eyre-Brook and Cpl Dalton were too immersed in personal admin to notice two infiltrators trying to scale the perimeter fence. It was not until the wily old fox (Sarge) and the bulging eyes of the alert owl (Fern) noticed the infiltrators ‘ _, that the Troop gave a rapid but " fruitless chase into the night. A Sqn SHQ Tp Keep/Hg the/r heads down The Troop then deployed on Exercise Summer Charge (less Sgt ‘War Dodger’ Fleetwood), which put immense pressure on the Troop Ldr who apparently threw his teddies into every corner of Uelzen Training Area. After some well earned leave we wel- comed Tpr Cooper fresh from training. We are now training hard for our imminent deployment 2 Troop The Troop started the year in anticipation of interesting times ahead, and we were not disappointed. We welcomed to the Troop Tprs Smith, Beresford, Cattell, LCpl Stoker and Cpl Franks. Our first taste of action this year came in an unexpect- ed form: ‘fire fighting’. On an enjoyable spring day in Sennelager under the tutelage of the Defence Fire Service, we began our training. Familiarisation with the ‘Green Goddesses’ (top speed of 20 mph with the Troop pushing), and hoses older than the combined age of the Troop (what, including the troop Sergeant? Ed). The running out of the hose was a speciality of Tpr Scrimshaw who was unable to run in a straight line. He fur- ther enhanced his expertise when one of the hoses burst with up to 2000 lb of water sending him airborne (well dodged Cpl Franks). Then came the ladder drills, Tpr (‘I’m not scared of heights’) Clayton turned a funny shade ofwhite and managed to get talked down by the friendly DFS. After many weeks train- ing, and even after deploying to England the fire strike was called off 24 hours before it was due to start: an ominous taste of the future. On our return to a deserted Hohne in April, we began to focus on deployment to the Balkans at the end of the year. Although attention was still on the Gulf, we commenced our OP OCULUS training with enthusiasm. May and June were an odd mix of Bosnia training and more formal FR exercises. A Sqn exercise Tpr Cooke and Cp/Mc/nn/re tfl/mg to get through on 778 778 |
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