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End to End REME Support: Part 1
End to End REME Support to Enable Mission Ready Training
From Aug 20 until Jan 21, BATUS Workshops, 4 Armd CS Bn REME and 1 MERCIAN LAD provided a continuous REME chain which took equipment from BATUS and prepared it for Mission Ready Training in Sennelager, Germany. This three-part series shows the successes of this joint effort and a highlights an effective and truly collaborative delivery of Equipment Support.
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Vehicles awaiting loading
Part One: BATUS
The first link in the chain
Scribe: Major Scott Thompson
Due to COVID-19, the 2020 and 2021 training seasons in BATUS were cancelled, with the training instead being conducted in the UK and Germany. Sennelager Training Centre (STC) in Germany was chosen as the alternative location to facilitate mission ready training for Operational deployments. To ensure Units training in Germany had the right type and quantity of equipment, BATUS was asked to provide 150 platforms to bolster the Land Training Fleet Sennelager (LTF(S)). It was clear from the outset that the task of bringing all this equipment together from Germany, the UK and BATUS into one location before preparing it for an exercise starting in early January 2021 was going to be monumental. To ensure training success it was vital the vehicles being sent from BATUS would leave in the very best condition possible to alleviate the burden being placed on LTF(S) and 4 Armd Bn REME.
COVID 19 and Preparing the Fleet
Scribe: Cfn Nicholls
Like the UK, CO-VID-19 changed a lot for BATUS Workshop. It went from being a busy and demanding Workshop full of tradesmen to an empty Workshop under lockdown. However, as the restrictions changed, and we learned to adapt to working under the threat of COVID-19, in May 2020 we safely came back into work with new ways of working. It was decided in July that no training would take place for the rest of the year in BATUS and that training for 2021 would take place in the UK and Germany. At this point we were told that we would need to send a proportion of our armoured vehicles (150 platforms) to Germany so that the units deploying on Op CABRIT could train and prepare effectively in Jan 21.
The task before us was massive! We had to prepare all of these vehicles to be ready to leave BATUS on Ex PRAIRIE TRANSPORTER in September. The majority of the platforms were armoured, but as a Workshop we had very limited personnel with any armoured experience. Those that did have the experience were given the task of overseeing the armoured lines while also teaching all the VMs how to repair WRs, BDs, CR2s and T3s.
We knew that the vehicles would be going to LTF(S) and that 4 Bn were up against it with preparing not just these vehicles, but also ones from across the UK and the ones in LTF(S). It therefore made sense that we did everything we could at our end to help them out. As a Craftsman I had thankfully worked on WR before and so I found myself working long hours to inspect, repair and service the vehicles ready to deploy to LTF(S). Everyone in the Workshop was in coveralls, even the ASM was on the shopfloor in his coveralls as the only person with T3 experience. The whole Workshop worked long hours
and managed to get every spare that was available in the system fitted to get the vehicles in the best possible condition. Speaking from a Craftsman’s point of view it was a lot to ask for, but it provided us with a great opportunity to work on equipment we wouldn’t normally touch.
Loading the Vehicles for Ex PRAIRIE TRANSPORTER
Scribe: Sgt Bibi
Exercise PRAIRIE TRANSPORTER is the exercise name for the movement of vehicles from BATUS to the Port of Becancour, Quebec, to be loaded onto a UK Roll On Roll Off (RORO) ferry for transport back to the UK and Germany. It involves the loading of vehicles, ES Materiel and ammunition onto heavy lift transporters and trains for the 4,000 km journey East across Canada. This Ex PRAIRIE TRANSPORTER was going to be the largest one for over 10 years and would fill an entire RORO with kit destined for either Emden (LTF(S)) or for the UK and disposal (DROPS).
The loading of the trains was the first task. Six of us travelled to the rail head in Oyen where we loaded 26 Ridgebacks and Mastiffs. The task was thankfully not too difficult as most of the vehicles were able to move by themselves. However, it took an entire day of hard graft to chain all 26 vehicles to the rail flats. The second task involved moving all the heavy armour from BATUS to the rail head in Suffield. This was further complicated by a lack of crews and the odd vehicle having to be recovered to the rail head. The task was a BATUS effort and many Canadians driving along the Trans-Canada Highway got quite a shock when the traffic was held up by the British and Canadian MPs to allow Challenger 2 tanks to cross the highway.
With all of the rail flats safely loaded and underway we then started the task of loading 113 civilian low loaders with light Armoured Vehicles, B Vehicles and ISO containers. Thankfully, we had 4 Recovery Mechanics from 6 Armd CS Bn REME, headed up by SSgt Jones, fly out from the UK to help us with this task. Over the period of a week, we loaded 250 vehicles and 40 ISO containers for their
A SV (R) unloading the Cougar fleet from the railhead
4,000 km trip across Canada. With some of these truckers completing the long distance move in 3 days, the team immediately flew to Becancour to receive and unload the kit at the port.
Loading and Unloading at Port Becancour
Scribe: Cfn Nicholls
With the kit loaded, myself and a team of three others deployed to Montreal, Quebec as part of the Port Task Group (PTG). Our role was to help unload the vehicles, load the boat and try and fix any problems that had occurred from the move. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions we had to undergo a number of precautions including an extensive testing regime. Once at the port the OC of the PTG put us into ‘family’ bubbles so that we would operate independently of other bubbles in case one of the ‘family’ bubbles caught the virus. Over 10 days we unloaded all the equipment, pre-positioned everything at the dock side, and then once alongside, we loaded the boat. The most complicated part of the whole operation was loading the boat which had to be done in 72 hours, under strict COVID-19 restrictions and involved everyone. Unfortunately, the boat wasn’t able to fully deploy its ramp at the port, which meant that all armoured vehicles that were ‘non-runners’ had to be painstakingly winched onto the boat using two recovery assets. Thanks to Sgt Bibi and SSgt Jones, a 2-hour procedure was safely completed in 45 mins for each ‘non-runner’. With the boat at maximum capacity every inch was vital, so all the vehicles were carefully squeezed on and chained into position. In all we loaded 3,982 tons of kit and equipment, a mammoth task!
Being part of the PTG has been an interesting experience to see how the RLC movers and VSS carry out their roles. The task was quite complex at times, and was complicated further by COVID-19, but I learned a lot and now understand how difficult it is to move kit and equipment across countries. The whole task from start to finish has been a challenge for BATUS Workshop but it has given us a mission for all of us to focus on. I have definitely progressed professionally as a result and I look forward to using my new equipment knowledge and skills in the future.