New CCF (Army) Contingent at Claires Court School

Claires Court is delighted to have been selected by the MOD to start a new CCF Army Contingent with effect from 28th February 2021.

The CCF is a fantastic organisation which will offer our students a broad range of challenging, exciting, adventurous and educational activities, and develop personal responsibility, leadership and self-discipline. 

In the coming months, we will be very busy training up our staff so that they can add yet another string to their already talented bows. Cadet recruitment will begin in the summer term so that we are ready to start parading from September 2021. We cannot wait to see our new unit getting stuck in to military skills, camps, adventurous training and much much more. This new educational partnership between the school and the Ministry of Defence compliments our programme of outdoor engagement really well, and will stretch even the best of our students to go that extra mile!

We are very grateful to the School's Cadet Expansion Officer for the South East, Lt Col (Retired) Rod Gray, for all of his help in establishing our new unit.

4 PWRR SOLDIERS MAKE DAWN ASSAULT BEFORE ENJOYING CHRISTMAS IN THE FIELD

4 PWRR SOLDIERS MAKE DAWN ASSAULT BEFORE ENJOYING CHRISTMAS IN THE FIELD

Army Reserve Soldiers from 4^th Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, nicknamed ‘The Tigers’ have been on Salisbury Plain Training Area and Browndown over the weekend 4 – 6^th December, conducting their final weekend exercise of the year. They were putting their skills to the test in assaulting and securing buildings and sharpening reconnaissance skills in the rural and urban environment. COVID-secure protocols were followed during the training and a Christmas brunch was laid on by their own chefs in the field after the mission had been completed.

100 soldiers from across the south east took part from the Battalion’s 4 Companies for their final training weekend of the year, Exercise Punniar Tiger. On receiving orders, the night before the soldiers moved into positions, conducting close target reconnaissance for a final dawn attack, which commenced at first light on the Sunday morning. The assault took place against a fortified enemy position, on a farm complex in sub-zero temperatures. It involved them working through a series of compounds, climbing over walls and storming the buildings within, using various weapon systems to achieve their objectives, firing hundreds of blank rounds and using special training smoke grenades.

On completion of the training, the soldiers enjoyed a COVID-secure Christmas brunch, served by the Officers and Senior Ranks in the field where the exercise took place. On the menu was soup followed by roast turkey and all the traditional trimmings in a Christmas roll and was finished off with mince pies and pulling crackers.

Among those tucking into their Christmas treat was, Lance Corporal Daniel Wimberley (30) from Portsmouth. When not operating as an Army Reservist, he is a landscape architect. Speaking of the weekend training he said, “It’s been a fantastic opportunity as commander to be challenged in the urban environment, leading an assault and making split second decisions.  Temperatures have been sub-zero, and everyone also has the COVID protocols to adhere to, I think everyone has worked really hard performed well. The Christmas lunch was something to look forward to whist we were out on the freezing reconnaissance mission last night. To be served our lunch has enabled a bit of banter and kept spirits high, it maintains a good level of morale as we head into 2021.”

After a busy and intense weekend everybody took the opportunity to enjoy, unwind and start the festive season. The Battalion of 367 personnel is made up of primarily of Reservists with an element of Regular soldiers who supervise the training and manage the daily requirements needed to run the Battalion.

The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Jim Bird said: “Exercise Punniar Tiger marked the end of a challenging year.  We started the year on Salisbury Plain in freezing temperatures as part of the largest deployment that the Plain has seen in recent years and ended it there also.  In between, we mobilised a 139 strong COVID Support Force and have operated in seven countries.  Normally at this time of year we would thank the troops for their incredible commitment by the Officers and Warrant Officers serving them a Christmas lunch.  This year, because of COVID we have had to do things differently, so after the tactical exercise finished, we gave the troops a socially distanced Christmas meal in the field. At this time of year, we take the opportunity to think about our soldiers currently deployed overseas and their families”.

Commenting on a busy year for the Battalion, he went on to say: “In many respects we have achieved much more than we expected this year.  It has not been straightforward, but we still managed Platoon level tactical live firing, grown the Battalion trained strength by 10% and, most importantly, contributed to 5 operations both in the UK and overseas.  Next year, we hope to be able to match, if not better these successes.”

Wg Cdr Eklund wins top Communications award

At the Company Of Communicators annual Military Communicator of the Year awards last night, the Lord Mayor of London presented Wg Cdr Dylan Eklund with the RAF Communicator of the Year award in recognition of the work he has done this year whilst mobilised into Air Media & Communications to head-up the Covid Content Generation Team as part of the RAF’s overall Covid response effort. 

His services enabled Air M&C to assess, review, plan and deliver a flow of content outputs and communications effects within this rapidly evolving situation. He commanded a team made up from a mix of existing Air M&C and Regular RAF personnel, Media Reserves & Civil Servants and quickly established what was required, where the gaps were, what the needs were and what the content gathering and publishing process would look like.  Within 24 hours of standing up, his team was generating a steady flow of high quality, highly informative and highly valued content to a worried, confused and increasingly remote audience and projected a clear and positive picture of the RAF’s national response.

Collecting the award Wg Cdr Eklund said ”I am very honoured to have received the award and please that, as a Reservist, I was able to make a useful contribution to the operation”.   

Royal Naval Reserve training recognised by the Royal Yachting Association

In a superb achievement for the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), Cardiff-based HMS CAMBRIA has passed a rigorous assessment to earn accreditation as a Recognised Training Centre for Powerboat Operations by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA).

Accreditation by the RYA is an important step in the journey to return waterborne training to the RNR and builds on the successful arrival of Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) to RNR Training Units in Cardiff, Newcastle and Liverpool, with more planned in the coming year.

HMS CAMBRIA, which recently relocated from Barry Island to a waterfront location in the Welsh capital city, can now train Reservists in a range of core maritime skills, including navigation, seamanship and boat handling, and radio communication, culminating in the award of the internationally-recognised RYA Powerboat Level 2 qualification.

Commodore Mel Robinson, who is originally from Pembrokeshire, is the Commander of the Maritime Reserves and said:

“This is an exciting and hugely important milestone in the transformation of the Maritime Reserves, enabling us to better support the Royal Navy on operations, at home and around the world.  HMS CAMBRIA has become the first Royal Naval Reserve Training Unit to meet the Royal Yachting Association’s high standards, in turn enabling reservists to gain internally-recognised qualifications while learning the professional skills that will allow them to deploy on Royal Navy warships, operating seamlessly alongside their Regular counterparts.  This achievement, for which I commend HMS CAMBRIA’s Ship’s Company,  enable them to better support the Royal Navy on 21^st Century operations, at home and around the globe.

Commander Carolyn Jones, who assumed command of HMS CAMBRIA on 14 October, said:

“I am hugely proud of the CAMBRIA team for all their hard work, which has clearly paid off with this RYA accreditation.  These boats will now regularly be seen in Cardiff Bay, conducting maritime training which will enable our Reservists to deploy in Offshore Patrol Vessels based here in the UK and forward-deployed around the world.”