And on a lighter note the Squadron made excellent use of Pembroke beach, with some great surfing to be had on many evenings. It was a terrific high on which to depart for summer leave.
Tp being de-briefed by CoH Eade after a successful Tp advance
As we move towards the year end, activity has continued at pace, with plenty of soldiers supporting the Regimental deployment to BATUS, many soldiers on career courses, and one final Squadron Exercise on Thetford Training Area still to come before we get to the year End. C Squadron has performed outstandingly throughout the year, always delivering on every task. Maj van Cutsem will leave with a heavy heart when he moves on, but with the knowledge that the Squadron is in the extremely capable hands of the newly posted in 2IC, Capt Henry Jordan LG, until Maj Rupert Gorman arrives from ICSC(L) to take over in May 2015.
D Squadron
2
014 has been a fairly fragmented year for D Squadron, yet we have managed to undertake plenty of individual and collective Squadron training, with a couple of weeks of Adventure Training (AT) and a fair amount of sport thrown in. A sad moment was the formal ending of our long standing attachment to 16 Bde. Our links have been constant since 1982 and the Falklands conflict. Maj Ongaro deployed to Afghanistan in June and handed over command to Maj Ed Mackie, returning to RD after a year at LAND Forces in Andover and WO2 Quickfall took over as SCM from WO2 Eulert. Well over half the Squadron have deployed to BATUS throughout the year - either as permanent or temporary staff - and many have also deployed under various guises and roles with the Regiment for Prairie Storm 3 and 4. The feedback from BATUS has been excellent and it is clear that all who have deployed have worked hard. Time spent in recce is seldom wasted and their stint this year will set them up for BATUS 2015; yet, from duty rumour, it is debatable whether they focussed their recce skills more on the prairie or indeed on the human terrain in Earls in Medicine Hat ‌ only time will tell!
The Sqn Ldrs vehicle driven by Tpr Mclaughlin
Tpr Router watching the sun rise over the prairie
In the UK, the Squadron has deployed on CT2 exercise to Dartmoor, where the squadron focused on basic rural recce skills, and we deployed to Caerwent twice to focus on urban surveillance and targeting techniques. We have also deployed to Castlemartin for Regimental Gun Camp and sent troops to compete in Regimental Troop Tests for CT1 on
LCpl Esmond happy in his work
The Squadron with the Brigade Commander on the last day in 16 Bde
14 â– Household Cavalry Regiment