167 Catering Support Regiment RLC

GRANTHAM

CO: Lt Col M Dyos • Adjt: Maj S Conway • RSM: WO1 A Cartwright

Army Reserve Chef Symposium

167 Catering Support Regiment RLC hosted the first Army Reserve Chef Symposium at Grantham in Nov 22 on behalf of the Field Army. The aim of the event was to bring all Army Reserve chefs together to promote ‘espirit de Corps’ throughout the trade. Around 80 Army Reserve chefs were in attendance and found it really useful. The two-day event offered information on the trade, its future and ways to improve lines of communication as well as recruitment and retention methods; all geared towards improving the overall capability of the Army Reserve trade.

HQ Field Army’s aspiration for the symposium is to give Army Reserve Chefs an annual platform for discussion and professional development. A huge thank you to WO1 Stones and his team for organising the event. Date for the next symposium will be pushed out once confirmed.

Skiing

167 Regt deployed personnel to Hemsedal Norway on Exercise

NORDIC KNEES STRETCH and Exercise ALPINE KNEES BEND.

On arrival the teams were met with temperatures of -20ºC which unfortunately meant the first day of training was cancelled. Day two received a green light and all team members were in great spirits and ready for training despite the cold.

The team worked hard over the first three days, covering around 20km a day. The first race was an individual 7.5km female race and a 10km male freestyle race which included a mass start; a first for several team members.

Congratulations to Sgt Curtis who placed second Reserve Vet in the 10km race! Other results included LCpl Davis - first female Reserve Junior in 5km mass start and 7.5km sprint; Capt Richards second overall Vet in 5km mass start and 7.5km sprint, first female Reserve in 5km mass start and 7.5km sprint and first female Reserve Vet in

5km mass start and 7.5km sprint.

In addition to individual results, the Nordic team of Capt Richards, Sgt Curtis, LCpl Davis, LCpl Short, LCpl Davis and Pte Lai, were named Mixed Team Nordic Champions. Congratulations also to Sgt Wightman, Sgt Hayball and LCpl Heanes of the Alpine team who continued to climb the rankings as the competition progressed.

Furthermore, Sgt Curtis and Capt Richards received their Corps Colours for ‘Continuous Contribution to Nordic Skiing’.

Ex ARMY SUSTAINER

Ex ARMY SUSTAINER 23 will take place on 24 Jun 23 at Prince William of Gloucester Barracks Grantham. It is an Army-wide catering competition for all Regular and Reserve Chefs, organised and managed by 167 Regt on behalf of Fd Army. The one-day competition schedule includes 15 technical classes ranging from field and improvised catering team events to individual classes in both static and live theatre. RAF and Navy, MOD Industry partners and International allies are also invited to compete.

The exercise serves as a fantastic platform to develop new talent, train field skills and highlight potential new British Army Culinary Arts

Team competitors, opening up opportunities to represent the Army team at Ex JOINT CATERER at the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show. In turn this can result in potential selection for the prestigious Combined Services Culinary Arts team who compete in catering competitions worldwide.

All Army Chefs (both Reg and Res) are encouraged to take this opportunity to showcase you and your unit/formation and interested parties should use QR code provided to enter (please inform your CoC that you hope to compete).

The POC is: WO1 Stones (Glen.Stones233@mod.gov.uk)

Farewells

The Regt says goodbye to Sgt Bloor, Cpl Brindley and LCpl Mason-Lamb. All have given many years of service and expertise to the Regt and they will be sorely missed.

2 Operational Support Group RLC (2OSG) GRANTHAM

CO: Lt Col A Chambers • 2IC: Maj J Bastin • RSM: WO1 Allison

2 Operational Support Group RLC has been busy focusing on training. Trade and ITR training weekends have been plentiful with members of the Group enjoying some different dynamics to training which have been brought in from the new members of the permanent staff training team. An additional annual camp took place in Beckingham, which saw a high output of the Unit achieving their certificate of efficiency. 2 OSG is continuing to support Ops, with Maj Sapwell recently deploying on Op ILKANE, Maj Hicks on Op CROSSWAY and SSgt Shand continuing excellent work at DST Leconfield. With future commitments to DEFENDER 23 and IRON TITAN 23, 2OSG looks forward to another busy year of deployments.

Trade training

2 OSG kicked off the new year with the first of two Operational Labour Support Courses (OSLC) for 2023. Delivered over a five-day period, the aim of the course is to prepare SP for deployment in a labour support role, whether through direct employment of locally employed civilians or through a range of contracted solutions. Students came from 2OSG, 9 Regt RLC and 29 Regt RLC.

Visit

During Ex BEAVER LODGE, 2 OSG welcomed the Comd 104 Theatre Sustainment Brigade, Brig C King. It was a great opportunity for the Brig to meet the members of the Group and see them getting back to basics in the field.

The Reserves Inter-Corps Championship

Congratulations to the RLC Reserve Football team, managed by CO 2 OSG, which won the Army Reserve Inter-Corps Football Championship played in Oct 22 in Grantham. This was the third running of the competition but was the first occasion that The RLC was able to field a team. Despite a number of key players unavailable, The RLC beat the Infantry 1-0 in the final with the winning goal scored by LCpl England 167 RLC. Man of the match in the final (and selected by Army FA) was Pte Kyle 152 RLC. Despite not having a recognised goalkeeper available for the competition, special mention goes to Pte Cresswell of 165 RLC who volunteered to go between the sticks and made some exceptional saves throughout the competition. If any RLC Reserve soldier/officer wishes to be considered for the team, please get in touch through your chain of command with Lt Col Chambers.

Sports

Glasgow Rangers FC welcomed around 150 Armed Forces Personnel to Ibrox for its Armed Forces Day in Jan 23. WO2 Billy McCallum had the honour of being selected as the British Army lead representative. He spent the day in the company of Ranger’s greats and was hosted in fine surroundings. Meeting the manager and watching the game from the director’s box was a personal highlight for him and it was a day he will never forget.

Ex MONTY MERGER

Maj Claire Sapwell deployed with an eclectic team from Home Command, HQ Army and ARITC to assist with the delivery of the Ski Foundation (SF) Syllabus for Ski Tour Training on Ex MONTY MERGER. Despite a lack of early season snow, the French Alps did not disappoint and conditions were close to perfect for all levels of ski ability. Instructing on the SF2 Course, the students were challenged with skiing variables of slope and terrain and most had a new experience of skiing off-piste. It was also their first introduction to ski touring and the theory behind avalanche training and planning a ski tour.

Promotions, welcomes and farewells

2 OSG would like to offer a warm welcome to Pte Dougan and Pte Kawa who have recently joined the Group from 158 RLC. Welcome also to two new PSIs, Sgts Roberts and Skorek.