Diary of Events Having enjoyed a great Inany years under the command of lst (UK) Reconnaissance Brigade, the Household Cavalry Regiment, as with all other Formation Reconnaissance Regiments, has become integrated into the Brigade structure. The Regiment has now fallen under the command of lst Mechanised Brigade in Tidworth. With this came the possible deployment with the Brigade on Op TELIC 10 (Iraq), and therefore all the necessary training that will precede. It was going to be a very busy year.
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The HAP generating their own requirement in the Galloway Forest.
the Galloway Forest conversion process of their own, return« ing to Windsor with much less storage space than they had left with.
After a well deserved Christmas break, the Regiment prepared the vehicles and
crews for the annual gun camp, at Castlemartin in Pembrokeshire. The aim was for A and C Squadrons to work up to section tests. Guided Weapons troops were also tested; firing approximately 90 missiles in the firing period. It is unlikely that the MOD have any Swingfire missiles left; fortuitously, the new anti—tank missile, ‘Javelin’, has just entered service. The camp culminated
The Commanding
fti'cer leads the Regiment back to Combermere Barrack on Remembrance Sunday
package with 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment in Norfolk, — a most unlikely Afghan environment, D Squadron joined the rest of the Regiment at Castlemartin to complete their annual firing.
in a series of 24hr live—fire exercise which included a heady combination of
Close Air Support in the form of Tornadoes and Harriers from the RAF, mor» tars provided by the Irish Guards, as
well as 30mm from the Scimitars. Concurrently with Regimental Gun Camp, D Squadron deployed on Exercise Herrick Eagle in preparation for their forthcoming operational tour to Afghanistan as part of 16 Air Assault
Brigade.
Towards the end of February, shortly after returning to Windsor from annual Gun Camp, the Regiment was on the road again, this time without vehicles, to Warminster, for a week in the simulated world of the Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (CATT). This gave the Regiment another opportunity to train within realistic scenarios in a computerized environment, easily done by the Play Station generation but often a struggle
After a very useful tr
eration. A starry-eyed but enjoyable week was had by all, and once again CATT proved to be an invaluable train— ing asset for Formation Reconnaissance. And then came BOWMAN training (our new communication system): a time for all of the Regiment, regardless of rank, to warmly embrace the modern
age of communications. A four month roll—on roll—off programme took hold of the Regiment and was aimed at'taking all personnel through basic BOWMAN training to more role—specific training. In the main, this comprised a two week package for all, at Pirbright, grappling
with the concept of synthetic computer emulation' of BOWMAN equipment: Concurrent to‘the training of the Regi» ment, the vehicle fleet had to undergo a
Despite the great frustrations endured by most in getting to grips with the new radios and the simulated training, the package was hugely successful. Due to the nature of the course timetables and gaps therein, it provided a perfect opportunity for squadrons to organise some adventure training. Various adventure training packages were put together, but the majority enjoyed a week at Penally in Pembrokeshire. June saw the deployment ofD Squadron to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 4 with 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Squadron deployed to Camp Bastion located in the centre ofa giant dust bowl in Helmand Province. They acquitted themselves with distinction working in the fractious areas of Sangin, Musa Qaleh and Now Zad. It was with great sadness that on lst August ZLt Ralph Johnson LG and LCpl Ross Nicholl
RHG/D were killed in a Taliban ambush. Tpr Martin Compton LG remains in hospital with serious burns from the incident. Only weeks later the Squadron was struck by further tragedy with the loss of LCpl Sean Tansey LG. Our thoughts remain with the families during these most difficult of times.
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The Second in Command approaching the Garrison Church on Remembrance Sunday
Household Cavalry Regiment
Wrestling with cam poles inside a particularly wet wood in
As the squadrons got stuck into some vehicle servicing post-Regimental train— ing in preparation for the pending Equipment Care Inspection, RHQ prepared itself for a gruelling series of command and staff exercises and a return fixture at CATT. Despite several late nights, the Headquarters bonded well together and thoroughly enjoyed any opportunities to relax in the Angel Pub, joking about new ‘best practices’ that would now be preached to follow on Bat— tle Groups. The remainder of the Regiment joined RHQ at Knook camp for their second session of CATT this year, and once again managed to practise basic recon— naissance skills and the coordination with Close Air Support and Artillery; all to hone their abilities prior to the culmination of the training year - Exercise Wessex Warrior. The Regiment deployed on Exercise Wessex Warrior to Stranraer on the west coast of Scotland at the end of October, and, despite the foul weather and the rain stopping only twice, the Regiment managed to successfully complete the missions given to them by the Battle
Group Training Unit. After a 200km road insertion to Otterburn, the last third ofthe Exercise took place on Salis— bury Plain, coinciding with a dramatic drop in temperature. Overall the exercise was extremely rewarding and thoroughly successful, producing a solid basis from which to prepare for deployment on operations in 2007. Whilst the Regiment was marauding across Scotland, D Squadron returned from Afghanistan. Unfortunately the beards had to go but there were desper-
ate attempts to keep some more esoteric hair-do’s developed over the course of their five month tour. After a week in camp and an excellent medals parade and memorial service, honouring those who did not return, the Squadron took some thoroughly well-deserved leave. With five weeks left until Christmas leave, the Regiment just had time to squeeze in another two week visit to Castlemartin in Pembroke where the year had started. This time the aim was to conduct pre-operational firing pack. ages in preparation for the looming TELIC 10 tour and whatever else 2007 has in store for the Regiment. .
The first half of the year, although busy, was to prove only a warm—up for a hectic second half. The Regiment took summer leave in July and August and returned refreshed and prepared for Regimental training on Salisbury Plain a week later. The training was aimed at Squadron level, whilst concurrently exercising a relatively fresh RHQ wrestling with the knotty issue of newly installed Bowman. The training culmi— nated in three day troop assessment packages, aimed at being an assessment of each individual troop’s ability as well
as being a teaching exercise with the inevitably competitive edge.
’.. 1 L Command Tioop and friends representing the enemy during regimental rehearsflis for TESEi
Household Cavalry Regiment