Op GOLDEN ORB Daylight Rehearsal

By Cpl Thapa, RAF Odiham

WHEN, WHERE, WHO, WHAT

On Sunday 30 Apr 23, the Op GOLDEN ORB Daylight Rehearsal (DLR) for the upcoming King’s Coronation was held at RAF Odiham. This was by far the largest contingent of military personnel to have assembled in one place for a long time. My team and I had the privilege to witness what was undoubtedly an exceptionally largescale rehearsal of marching troops.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

RAF Odiham was chosen to cater the rehearsal due to the size of the airfield and the similarities to the dimensions of the Coronation Parade route through London. To ensure the Station was secure enough to host the marching troops there was a large Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) and Royal Military Police (RMP) presence, a small Royal Navy (RN) Service Police contigent, a Hampshire Constabulary contingent, and most importantly let’s not forget the MPGS keeping everyone in check and everything secure!

Early Doors

By 06:20 on a cold, cloudy Sunday morning we opened the crash gate offering the best access from the main road onto the rehearsal area with our very own

Detachment Commander, SSgt Dubey-James providing the Armed Cover Guard. Over the next 2.5hrs the RMP checked in over 100 coaches containing approx. 4500 Service Personnel (SP), all eager to commence 2 full rehearsals of the marching contingent for the big day. To make matters worse each coach required a Foreign Object Debris (FOD) check on the tyres to reduce FOD on the airfield.

AND ALL THE KING’S MEN

In addition, the Military’s Service Chiefs and other high-ranking officers from across all TLBs were in attendance to meet the troops and participate in the afternoon run through. These included the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Chief of General Staff (CGS), Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), and other Generals, Air Marshals and Admirals. To make it even more interesting, local, National, and International Media were invited along to record and report on this historic rehearsal.

…AND RELAX

At around 20:00 the last coach left via the crash gate, at which time all those involved with the security of this rehearsal could breathe a big collective sigh of relief and congratulate themselves on a very successful day. It was a real treat to not only witness, but to also have been part of such a historic grand scale event; the day could not have gone any smoother.

Notable praise was received from Executive Officers’ from around the establishment, all expressing their appreciation for the hard work, professionalism, and extremely high standards of all those that provided the security.