Wire April 2011
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THE wire www.royalsignals.mod.uk April 2011 The Magazine of The Royal Corps of Signals APRIL 2011 Vol. 65 No: 2 The Magazine of the Royal Corps of Signals Established in 1920 The Wire Published bi-monthly Annual subscription £12.00 plus postage Editor: Mr Keith Pritchard Editor Deputy Editor: Miss J Shearing Mr Keith Pritchard Tel: 01258 482817 All correspondence and material for publication in The Wire should be addressed to: The Wire, RHQ Royal Signals, Blandford Camp, Deputy Editor Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8RH Email: [email protected] Miss Jo'lene Shearing Contributors Tel: 01258 482818 Deadline for The Wire : 15th February for publication in the April. 15th April for publication in the June. 15th June for publication in the August. 15th August for publication in the October. 15th October for publication in the December. Accounts / Subscriptions 10th December for publication in the February. Mrs Sharon Sterne To see The Wire on line or to refer to Guidelines for Contributors, go to: Tel: 01258 482087 http://www.army.mod.uk/signals/heritage/1311.aspx Subscribers All enquiries regarding subscriptions and changes of address of The Wire should be made to: 01258 482087 or 94371 2087 (mil) or [email protected]. Remittances should be made payable to Royal Signals Benevolent Fund Welcome to the new look Wire. We have made a few changes CONTENTS for this edition and look to make more for the June copy. All the "old favourites" are still there, principally News form Units, but Page we are adding a bit more colour and trying to update the image. News from Operations 2 Let us know your thoughts at [email protected] News from APC 10 New to this issue is an update from HQ SOinC(A) with a precis of what is going on at Corps on a Page, the centre page spread. In addition there is an outline of the Army Redundancy Programme News from Blandford 13 on the inside front cover, a must read for all serving readers. News fron Training 23 At this time of year we have the usual winter sports articles with the Army and Inter Services ski and snowboarding News form Formations 30 championships, now in full colour. News from Regiments 32 Enough about the changes for now and back to the mundane issues. We are still receiving low quality images of what could be exceptional photographs. Please try and send large .jpg HQ SOinC(A) Update 47 images as individual files rather than embedded in articles. News from Squadrons 72 We are also looking for "portrait" images for the front cover instead of the usual landscape shots. Take up the challenge and Other Units 79 see if you can produce something worthy of the June edition front cover. Sport 84 The Royal Signals Association 91 Last Post 94 Obituaries 94 FRONT COVER BACK COVER Sig Wilson from 202 Sig Sqn provides security for a Sgt John Howe competing for the Royal Signals in communications site in Helmand Province the Army Giant Slalom race Authors alone are responsible for the content of their articles. The opinions expressed in the articles of this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy and views, official or otherwise, of the Royal Corps of Signals or the Ministry of Defence. All articles and submissions are published at the discretion of the Editor. This publication may contain official information. It should be treated with discretion by the recipient. Printed by Holbrook Printers Ltd, Norway Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth © Crown Copyright NEWS FROM OPERATIONS 2nd SIGNAL REGIMENT KABUL ICS TP the Sangars, but to actually go out and mix with the locals was humbling to say the least. A DEPLOYED CHRISTMAS - by LCpl ‘Bruce’ Forsyth The festive season came and went in a flash, the Det managed to The festive season is normally a time to relax and unwind. It is squeeze in some Christmas cheer. Christmas Day started with also a period where family and friends get together, over- LCpl Kev Cameron handing out Secret Santa gifts to all, home indulging in food and alcohol. However, whilst deployed we are made woolly hats, playboy lamps, recycled raffle prizes and some not afforded this luxury, work and operational tasks carry on as ‘unmentionables’ were among the gifts. This was then followed normal. To make the best of the situation LCpl Danny Hayley by the traditional dinner; the juniors were extremely privileged to organised a 5-a-side World Cup, inviting all nations that have a have DCOM ISAF assisting the other seniors in serving their meal. presence at HQ ISAF to attend. The ICS Det entered 2 teams, one of them making it through to the final, only to be beaten by a Boxing Day saw a charity ‘fun run’ by a small group of individuals Macedonian team 8 – 7 on penalties. for ‘Afghan Heroes’, anything goes was the theme. Our very own Sig Thompson participated and he managed to be only one of 2 Christmas lunch was fun, with the Tp hierarchy doing a splendid to complete the 5 laps of Camp! Too much Xmas pud. job of serving the junior ranks their dinner as is the British Army’s tradition. The junior ranks behaved themselves, not a sprout to It is only now, as we conclude our handover preparations, that we be thrown! can fully appreciate all that has been achieved. The Det inherited 2 Reacher Dets, one providing the operational link, the other The day ended with a Christmas falling apart due to a need for Party, with all nations invited. It spares. This deficient Det is started with DCOM ISAF, Lt Gen now fully kitted out and James Bucknall CBE, presenting operational as and when the trophy to the Macedonian required. This turn around is a 5-a-side World Cup winning side. credit to the Det Comds and Other key activities were a free Maintainers who have spent raffle and a Piñata. LCpl Steph many a long hour rectifying McMaster and Sig Kabin Shahi faults and installing the various created the Piñata in the shape of equipment needed to get them a reindeer to remain with the working. Sgt Dean Forsyth festive spirit. Capt Ian Fawcett considered it his “second was the willing volunteer for calling home” for a long time, the out the raffle, in which the only experience he has gained is person from the ICS Det to win priceless, although extremely anything was Sgt Stu McCluskie, emotional at times! who, for some strange reason, Configuration management is seems to win absolutely now well under way; we have a everything. superb comprehensive database to pass on to 3DSR. It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks we shall be bidding a LCpl Forsyth making some technical adjustments The rest of the tour has been fond farewell to HQ ISAF. We have the usual fault rectification and achieved a great deal in our short time here, from major projects work on ICS improvements. The COMCEN Ops have worked of the Network Control Centre build and the Embassy hard in support of the Det, they have their own responsibilities re-structure, to raising over $5,000 for charity by completing the and tasks to complete, but have found the time to get cross ‘Kabul Marathon’, not including our normal day to day routine of trained on the various IT systems to assist the CSE’s. delivering ICS to the British Military at HQ ISAF. We feel that we have done the Corps, Regt and Sqn proud and are ready to pass It has been extremely beneficial to have them on standby when on the torch that is HQ ISAF ICS Det to 3DSR. required. Sig ‘Woollyback’ Woolley has found a new vocation during his time on tour and we believe that he should get CAMP SOUTER ICS DET - by Sgt Dean Forsyth ‘Storeman of the Year' award, he has made huge progress in changing the stores system within the ICS det as a whole, his In a few weeks the second CSR will be in KABUL and we will fresh new ideas going against the grain of ‘stores are for storing’ begin our handover. Our tour has been challenging, the Det has has been a revelation. worked hard and the pace has been fast. However, the constant support provided by the Det and the Tp as a whole, has resulted Souter ICS Det will certainly look back with pride as we depart, in the tour flying by. all of us will have many memories for years to come of our time here. The beginning of December saw the final Humanitarian Aid Drop take place. Members of the detachment were able to be released CHRISTMAS AT KABUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KAIA) to join in the pleasure of ‘giving’ to the local community. It is rare ICS DET - by LCpl ‘Welly’ Welburn that we get the chance to go outside the confines of the Camp, of course they are familiar with the surroundings from their time in December is usually a month to wind down and to celebrate 2 THE WIRE, APRIL 2011 pleasure of travelling in, or had the use of, their vehicles. This was reflected in an ECI inspection which described it as “the best MT in Theatre”. The IT skills of the whole department has been tested to the extreme in producing an enormous amount of MT paperwork to bring the Dept in line with current regs. The MT provide the vehicles, however the actual movement of personnel and equipment throughout the Kabul AO has been the responsibility of whichever 13-Man multiple is currently on the MT element of its continual 6-day rotation.