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RSM Sitrep as at 09 Nov 07
(Archive)
WO1(RSM) ANDY JOHNSON - 9th November
2007
Well, the Battalion is now fully deployed. There is barely a
square foot of Helmand that doesn’t have a Coldstreamer in it!
The Commanding Officer and I have recently conducted a whistle
stop tour of the Coldstreamers. We have yet to see some of them,
such as the Mortar Platoon who are all over the place dropping
bombs on the enemy on behalf of the Danish Battlegroup and the
Royal Marines, but by and large we have captured most members of
the Battalion.
No.1 Company are on fine form up in Kabul and patrolling hard. I
was lucky enough to go on the ground with Mr Powell and LSgt
Bunn’s multiple. I should probably thank them for putting up
with an old dinosaur like me for the duration. I’m sure they
were going slower than normal for my benefit – I’m no spring
chicken anymore! The US Army in Kabul were amazed that we were
patrolling on the streets on foot and wearing berets – so amazed
that a US Lt Col had to stop and take photographs and tell LSgt
Bunn how brilliant he thought we were!
He only saw the tip of the iceberg however, because all over
Helmand, the Coldstream Guards are working extremely hard and
doing great work. The Right Flank boys under Sgt Baines are
patrolling and fighting hard from FOB ARNHEM and my G2 sources
inform me that there are some sideburns and beards that would
put Osama Bin Laden to shame. No.3 Coy have deployed forward to
FOB KEENAN and have been welcomed by their new neighbours with a
few bursts of machine gun fire and a couple of mortar rounds.
Meanwhile, Major Brinn and his little force of Coldstreamers in
the OMLT are getting well stuck into Kandak Four of the ANA.
When I visited, they were in the processing of colour coding all
the AKs using 1 COLDM GDS butt numbering system. In addition, it
is now a tradition that the best shot amongst the Afghan troops
is presented with a blue, red, blue patch that he wears on his
left sleeve! Priceless.
We must not forget the Master Tailor, LSgt McGowan, LCpls Davies
and Wallace and Gdsm Parish. The famous five are sweating their
backsides off with the Bastion Support Group under difficult
conditions, although fortunately, the TQMS arrived yesterday to
help provide some long awaited top cover. I would also like to
send my best wishes to LCpl Rees from Right Flank. I hope all is
well and look forward to seeing you back in theatre once you are
fully recovered. My regards also to Gdsm Blakeway, my little
boxing friend from Leeds. Glad to hear you are ok and well done
for dusting yourself off and getting stuck back in to it young
fellow.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
Well – no ground breaking stuff really but a few updates. If
anybody still remembers ex-LSgt Grant Sexton you will be pleased
to hear that he and Louise are now the proud parents to a little
boy. Name yet to be decided but my suggestion is George or
Winston!
There is a plan for a welcome home parade after the tour where
ourselves and the Household Cavalry will exercise our right to
march through the streets of Windsor with bayonets fixed,
colours flying and drums beating. A provisional date for this is
in May 08, probably wearing Desert Combats. All of this is
subject to confirmation with the Mayor and town council and I
will post more details as they become apparent.
LSgt Mulgrew is now embedded in the Croydon office as our
recruiter there. I was delighted to meet another young Guardsman
from Hull the other day whilst on patrol in Kabul. We
traditionally used to recruit heavily from Hull and East
Yorkshire and although there has been a dry spell for a few
years, we are getting more on board just recently. So, if you
are a Hull boy, get the message out back home. We want more East
Yorkshiremen, so get into the recruiting office and don’t let
them steer you anywhere else. We haven’t had many lads from
Bradford for a long time either, so all you West Yorkshire lads
need to get to work too.
SERGEANTS’ MESS FORECAST
Provisionally, I am looking at these events to get us settled
back into Windsor:
Apr 08: St Georges Day to include Champagne Breakfast, St
Georges Day Lunch and Mess Gathering in the afternoon.
Apr 08: Bar open following march through Windsor.
Apr 08: 22 Year Farewell Working Lunch for Bri Dart, Kev Smith
and Jeb Cooper. Ladies in the bar from 1630 hrs.
Commanding Officer’s farewell dinner TBC
Jun 08: Troop Ball.
All of these dates are provisional and will depend on the
recovery dates of the Battalion from Op HERRICK. All No.7 Coy
Mess Members and ERE are welcome to attend these events. I will
post more details of how to book nearer the time.
JOURNALS AND PHOTOS
I would encourage you all to keep a journal during the tour. We
are planning to put together a Bn Tour Book on return. Depending
on what happens during the tour, there may even be a chance to
produce a commercial book with proceeds going towards Regimental
Charities. Neither will be possible without accurate records and
decent photographs.
JOB VACANCY - SERGEANTS MESS MANAGER
At the moment, the Sgts’ Mess is being looked after by caretaker
manager LCpl Anderson-Kobbs, but the reality is that as a LCpl
(and a new father!) he will not be able to keep up with this
single handed indefinitely. To that end, I require a LSgt or Sgt
to act as the Mess Manager for at least one year, preferably
two, in order to get the place ship-shape and Bristol-fashion on
our return to Windsor. All volunteers to contact me direct to
discuss the matter.
AND FINALLY…
Well done so far troops. Everything seems to be going well.
Please ensure that you continue to maintain your standards
throughout, even when you reach the mid-point in the tour and
the fatigue starts to settle in. Remember that we are here to
bring peace and to reconstruct, and not every Afghan is a
Taliban militiaman. A security reminder about mobile phones! If
you brought one into theatre then it should have been handed in
to your Coy HQ. All mobiles are to be kept switched off and are
not to be used in theatre. Routine monitoring takes place and
offenders may face disciplinary action.
Please ensure that you send in as much info as possible to the
Adjutant or Welfare Officer to go onto your own Coy/Pl/Dept
ArmyNET pages. Our families and friends will be desperate for
information.
Keep smiling troops, lean into the hill and work hard…
ONE TEAM – ONE
FIGHT
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