Post by aghart on Feb 3, 2011 23:27:26 GMT
12 members present for the February meeting. Not unusual, Feb tends to have a lower than usual turnout ( one suspects words like cold,wet & miserable might have something to do with it).
Minutes of the November meeting were passed
A vote of thanks was given to Pete Dore & Kevin Coughlin for their efforts in arranging the January Ladies Lunch.
London & Nottingham branch newsletters were available to view.
Details of the RTR sponsored Church service were made available
It was confirmed that the guest speaker for March is Captain James Larkin RTR from the RAC Training Regiment. It is possible that he may bring a mini bus full of phase 2 recruits to meet tankies of earlier generations.
£20 was voted to Tiny Hart to help cover costs of the branch newsletter.
The meeting was then closed, glasses refilled and then it was time for the guest speaker.
Sgt Bill Hayley the longest serving SNCO in 1 RTR at the present moment. Bill is the last non commissioned person in 1 RTR who remembers me in the regiment. Bill is currently based at the D&M Wing on Warthog the Viking replacement in Afghanistan.
Warthog is a British specification derivative of the Bronco multi terrain vehicle built in Singapore. Bronco is itself an improved and heavier version of Viking that Hegolund of Sweden did not decide to pursue with.
All four tracks of the 2 pod vehicle are powered giving fantastic X country performance. At 20 tons is is almost 5 tons heavier than Viking, most of which is increased armour protection against IED's. It can deep ford in the green zone of Helmand province but the extra weight means it cannot swim. Bill explained that this is not a problem, Warthog was designed and built for Afghanistan and swimming is not on the list of "must do's". It does meet all the "must do criteria". The extra protection has already proved it's worth. 2 RTR soldiers have had soldiers badly injured by a 45KG IED in Warthog. 2 years ago they had soldiers killed in Viking by 20KG IED's. Still not the best result we could hope for but a significant step in the right direction. The best protected vehicle out there is Mastiff which is in essence a very heavily armoured truck, which cannot traverse the kind of terrain that Warthog is built for. Warthog is the best protected vehicle available that also gives the mobility required.
Only the RAC crew Warthog, this is because it is used as a combat vehicle as well as a troop carrier. It can be fitted with a number of weapons platforms but .50 Browning and GPMG's top the favourite lists. In Northern Ireland, RCT soldiers drove the Infantry's Humber Pigs & Saracens. In Helmand the infantry ride in 2 RTR's Warthogs.
It has 4 variants, troop carrier, command vehicle,ambulance and recovery vehicle. In the front there is room for the driver, commander and a radio operator. It is proof against 12.7mm HMG bullets and the bar armour is ideal against RPG's. It does have a suite of ECM equipment fitted as well. Questions followed and Bill gave the answers.
A photo of warthog is at the bottom of the page
He then updated us on news of 1 RTR which had come via the RSM that day in response to calls for info from all over. A Sqn it seems is safe. The Armoured Sqn is vital to the land warfare centre it has been decided that if A Sqn were lost someone else would have to do it.
The RAF are "not" winning the CBRN battle either it seems. A major stumbling block appears their inability to deploy in the field for periods of time. They are used to operating from a fixed base and do not have the flexibility or logistical expertise to operate in the field for any period of time. The SQMS it seems is not in the RAF language. The battle is not over but 1 RTR seem to have the advantage.
Bill received a well deserved round of applause as he finished his brief.
With Kev coughlin driving I was able to consume more beer than normal, I last had Theakston's Old Perculiar years ago and it gave me the worst hangover ever, so why oh why did I drink it again? I had the hangover from hell well into Wednesday afternoon. I had 4 pints of beer,only 2 of which were Theakston's, will I ever learn?
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Minutes of the November meeting were passed
A vote of thanks was given to Pete Dore & Kevin Coughlin for their efforts in arranging the January Ladies Lunch.
London & Nottingham branch newsletters were available to view.
Details of the RTR sponsored Church service were made available
It was confirmed that the guest speaker for March is Captain James Larkin RTR from the RAC Training Regiment. It is possible that he may bring a mini bus full of phase 2 recruits to meet tankies of earlier generations.
£20 was voted to Tiny Hart to help cover costs of the branch newsletter.
The meeting was then closed, glasses refilled and then it was time for the guest speaker.
Sgt Bill Hayley the longest serving SNCO in 1 RTR at the present moment. Bill is the last non commissioned person in 1 RTR who remembers me in the regiment. Bill is currently based at the D&M Wing on Warthog the Viking replacement in Afghanistan.
Warthog is a British specification derivative of the Bronco multi terrain vehicle built in Singapore. Bronco is itself an improved and heavier version of Viking that Hegolund of Sweden did not decide to pursue with.
All four tracks of the 2 pod vehicle are powered giving fantastic X country performance. At 20 tons is is almost 5 tons heavier than Viking, most of which is increased armour protection against IED's. It can deep ford in the green zone of Helmand province but the extra weight means it cannot swim. Bill explained that this is not a problem, Warthog was designed and built for Afghanistan and swimming is not on the list of "must do's". It does meet all the "must do criteria". The extra protection has already proved it's worth. 2 RTR soldiers have had soldiers badly injured by a 45KG IED in Warthog. 2 years ago they had soldiers killed in Viking by 20KG IED's. Still not the best result we could hope for but a significant step in the right direction. The best protected vehicle out there is Mastiff which is in essence a very heavily armoured truck, which cannot traverse the kind of terrain that Warthog is built for. Warthog is the best protected vehicle available that also gives the mobility required.
Only the RAC crew Warthog, this is because it is used as a combat vehicle as well as a troop carrier. It can be fitted with a number of weapons platforms but .50 Browning and GPMG's top the favourite lists. In Northern Ireland, RCT soldiers drove the Infantry's Humber Pigs & Saracens. In Helmand the infantry ride in 2 RTR's Warthogs.
It has 4 variants, troop carrier, command vehicle,ambulance and recovery vehicle. In the front there is room for the driver, commander and a radio operator. It is proof against 12.7mm HMG bullets and the bar armour is ideal against RPG's. It does have a suite of ECM equipment fitted as well. Questions followed and Bill gave the answers.
A photo of warthog is at the bottom of the page
He then updated us on news of 1 RTR which had come via the RSM that day in response to calls for info from all over. A Sqn it seems is safe. The Armoured Sqn is vital to the land warfare centre it has been decided that if A Sqn were lost someone else would have to do it.
The RAF are "not" winning the CBRN battle either it seems. A major stumbling block appears their inability to deploy in the field for periods of time. They are used to operating from a fixed base and do not have the flexibility or logistical expertise to operate in the field for any period of time. The SQMS it seems is not in the RAF language. The battle is not over but 1 RTR seem to have the advantage.
Bill received a well deserved round of applause as he finished his brief.
With Kev coughlin driving I was able to consume more beer than normal, I last had Theakston's Old Perculiar years ago and it gave me the worst hangover ever, so why oh why did I drink it again? I had the hangover from hell well into Wednesday afternoon. I had 4 pints of beer,only 2 of which were Theakston's, will I ever learn?
Attached thumbnail(s)
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