3 minute read
Guest Editorial: Col Paul Johnson
Colonel Paul Johnson,
Commander Equipment Support, 1st (United Kingdom) Division
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Ingenuity in Adversity: The Future of Equipment Support
Being Commander Equipment Support is pretty good. For sure, there are some nervous moments when senior officers are asking difficult questions about the Division’s equipment availability. But I am fortunate to be supported by 1,500 engineers who give me the confidence that our kit is well looked after. Much of the time this confidence is instinctive, from meeting our people face-to-face on visits, and understanding their professionalism and dedication. But sometimes it comes from letters from Commanding Officers or Generals, singing the praises of our people at first and second line. Of course, our engineering ability features large, but the Division’s REME personnel also impress with their soldiering skills, ingenuity, cheerfulness, leadership and general ‘can do’ attitude. It is these skills we offer, even under trying circumstances, which I want to focus on.
Two major events are happening as I pen this in April, causing me to reflect on the Corps’ abilities. The first is the impending funeral of our Colonel-in-Chief, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. Others will write about his long association with the Corps, but his broader attitude to engineering is worth considering. Instrumental in the formation of the Royal Academy of Engineering, he famously said that, “everything that wasn’t invented by God is invented by an engineer”. He also commented on the demands on global resources, “...somehow or other that balance, to try and fit as many people onto this globe as
Cpl O’Toole supports the national effort in COVID defence 5 Battalion deliver power pack repair from their new home in Lyneham
comfortably as possible without doing too much damage. I think ultimately it’s going to be engineers that decide that”. This spirit of innovation is alive in the Division, from applying technology in 5 Battalion’s Centre of Excellence to our Environmental Sustainability initiative, Project GREEN RHINO, being championed by the ES Branch. That same ingenuity has been shown by our people throughout the pandemic, from inspecting and repairing medical equipment for the NHS, to designing and building mobile laboratories, or even using their Urdu language skills during community testing.
The second event is the Army’s transformation plans, known as Future Soldier. The media has inevitably focussed on the headlinegrabbing parts, such as the new Ranger Regiment and the increase in other special capabilities. Some mention was made of forming Combat Service Support battalions, but the implications for REME were unclear. Work on the supporting detail started in earnest in mid-April and this will be considered by the Army’s senior leadership in the summer. From the Division’s perspective, we have people from ES Branch intimately involved, so are confident that our ideas will be represented, and we will seek to exploit the opportunities the restructuring offers. General Eric
36 Engr Regt Wksp AQMS and Tiff after catching eggs in the CO’s Technical Challenge
Shinseki stated, “If you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more”, but in this case, Winston Churchill put it better, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. We have proved time and again, on the battlefield and in barracks, that our people thrive despite the difficulties they face, so we should be optimistic about the opportunities that Future Soldier holds for us. And in doing so, we should aim to live up to the standards that Prince Philip set for us as engineers. Arte et Marte
