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The Coldstream Guards - History in the making

  

   

 

   
     
   

   

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- LANCE CORPORAL


UPDATE 2008:
The interview below was conducted 9 years ago, but gives a good insight into 'Life in the Battalion'.  We caught up with LCpl Nick Jackson who is now a serving CSgt in the Battalion.  Scroll down after this interview to read the report or 'click here'.

This page gives an insight into how and why training in general and specialist training in particular is conducted in the Coldstream Guards. Lance Corporal Nick Jackson has served for over six years. He is a Signals Detachment Commander within the Signals Platoon, one of several specialised support platoons within the 1st Battalion, and is attached to one of the Rifle Companies. He has a demanding job as he is responsible for training some 110 men, for commanding his small detachment, for advising his Company Commander on all signals related issues, for ensuring radio communications up, down and across the chain of command in peace and war, and for maintaining a great deal of expensive equipment.


TRAINING WITHIN THE BATTALION

Lance Corporal Nick Jackson

Training has greatly improved since I was a recruit in November 1992, when I signed the dotted line and took the oath. Training was hard, as a soldier was bred to fight and follow orders without questions. This in my opinion was and still is a good way of training. This is not to say that today's recruits are inadequate or weak, but training has changed along with the political climate and so more time is taken with the individual to make the difficult change from civvy street to the military.

If you need a high standard of soldier then the training has to reflect that, so the type of person that the army is looking for has to rise to the challenge: shock, hard work, learning new skills and making new friends is what happens in the first few weeks of training. It is rewarding and, ultimately, makes a man out of a boy!

Recruit Training

Just to remind you, all Guards recruits go through two phases of training of about 6 months. The training is designed to be progressive, particularly the initial fitness training. We want to build people up, not break them. Phase 1 training is designed to give the young recruit a thorough but basic grounding in a wide range of core military skills, like weapon training, basic tactics and fieldcraft, First Aid, drill (of course!) and NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical defence). After Phase 1 is completed, Guards recruits move onto Phase 2 training at Catterick. There they hone their Infantry skills and knowledge and in every area increase their range of expertise. For example, instead of just concentrating on the SA80 rifle, they learn about and practice on the whole range of weapons available to a platoon, like the Light Support Weapon, 94 mm Light Anti-tank Weapon, the 51 mm mortar, and grenades. They do a lot more tactics and fieldcraft as well. Being future Guardsmen, they also do a special course in Drill, which is not just an exercise in shouting and being shouted at. For hundreds of years, Armies have used drill to instil self-discipline, self-confidence and pride in soldiers. It works, trust me! The aim is to ensure that every recruit can take his place straight away in his platoon once he joins the Regiment after passing out from recruit training.

Training in the Battalion

Of course, training doesn't stop when you join the Regiment, either in No 7 Company or in the 1st Battalion. In one way or another, we train constantly, to refresh our skills, to learn new ones, to deepen our knowledge of our profession and ultimately to prepare for future operations. Training is as realistic as we can make it and we have a solid foundation of operational experience in the Regiment to make it as good as possible. I've highlighted a few general subjects below and will then concentrate on my specialty: signals.

  • Drill. Drill in 90% of the Guardsman''s eyes is the least glamorous part of Battalion training, but inter-Company and even inter - Regimental rivalry makes it more enjoyable. Of course, in Windsor, where the 1st Battalion is currently based, and in Chelsea, where No 7 Company is stationed, we mount Ceremonial Duties for real. But like any good performance, you have to practise to make sure it goes perfectly on the day. There are other benefits to being smart on parade. One often hears stories of sentries at Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace and elsewhere being chatted up by women who fancy you because of your smart tunic, shiny boots and bearskin cap. The stories are all true - I speak from experience!

  • Driving. Nearly all Guardsmen go on a driving course to get their licence. It doesn''t cost a penny and once you pass you can further your experience by learning to drive larger vehicles. As long as its green, or any colour and used by the Army, then you can get a license for it. We get qualifications for free that can cost hundreds of pounds with civilian firms. Many Guardsmen arrive unable to drive and can thank the Battalion for getting them through their Driving Test. ·

  • Personal Skills. Weapon handling continues with the whole range of weapons available to us. Range days are designed to refresh personal weapons skills while live firing exercises allow command and control and tactics to be practiced and tested under arduous conditions. Range days in particular are often combined with other lessons, like NBC training or 1st Aid to enhance basic skills and spot potential instructors. Fitness remains very important and we are lucky to have Windsor Great Park for runs, Combat Fitness Tests or just days out for low-level training, such as Map Reading.

  • Communications. Being able to communicate is very important, in whatever line of work you may be in. Practice gives you the confidence to be able to speak to a group of people, either in person or with a radio, and to get your points across clearly and accurately. A Signals Detachment Commander, such as myself, teaches communications, or signals, within the platoons and companies. I aim to bring out the more confident Guardsmen within the platoon to see who can handle the extra responsibility and technical knowledge that comes with radios.

Specialist Training

Signals is the specialist subject on which I can talk with some knowledge. Being a signal instructor is quite a responsibility as you are only as good as how and what you teach. The Battalion currently has a very good signals platoon with a wide range of experience and knowledge. All Guardsmen attend a Regular Radio Users (RRU) course early in their career. This is taught in the Battalion. Later, selected individuals will go on to attend further specialist training outside the Regiment.

  • Regular Radio User (RRU). Many Guardsmen find the RRU course hard because there is so much new technical equipment to learn. In addition to learning about the radios and their ancillary equipment, you also learn voice procedure, or how to speak clearly on a radio net and skills like the phonetic alphabet (A=Alpha, B=Bravo, etc), which sometimes causes a little confusion. However, like your Army number, once learn it, you never forget it.

  • Regimental Signaller. The Regimental Signaller course is held outside the Battalion. It gives you not just extra signalling knowledge but also introduces you to the care, maintenance and accounting of signals equipment.

  • Regimental Signaller ( Junior). This course is much more advanced than anything you will have done previously and is aimed at NCOs. You begin to learn about the theory of communication, the way a radio wave travels, and about power theory. This course is very intense and qualifies you for promotion.

In the signal platoon you have to be able to think quickly and take in information, as you are often at the heart of the action. You may be providing communications for Battalion Headquarters or working directly with the Company Commander. You are their link with the rest of their command and so you carry great responsibility at a relatively junior rank. It is essential that signallers have a high degree of physical fitness and stamina. You have to keep up and you will be carrying more weight than the average Guardsman. You can''t think coherently if you are half-dead with exhaustion. Being in the Signal Platoon definitely isn''t all about sitting in the back of a Land Rover, drinking tea and smoking cigarettes! But for compensation, you always know what''s going on and what''s about to happen and you take pride in knowing that you are definitely essential to the effort.

There are other specialist platoons and areas such as Reconnaissance, Mortars and Anti-Tanks. These, also, have intensive training where a Guardsman''s skills are improved, enhanced and he becomes of great benefit to the Battalion as a whole.

Sports and Adventure Training

If you enjoy a particular sport, be it common-place or exotic, the Regiment will support you. The benefits of sports are obvious, at any level of expertise, and we try, for example, to keep Wednesday afternoons free for sporting activities. This is not your excuse to go down to the shops! A number of Guardsmen also go away throughout the year on courses to qualify them for adventure training expeditions and activities. These can range from a week at the Guards Adventure Training Wing in North Devon, which offers a number of activities like kayaking, mountain biking, sand sailing etc to sailing on the Household Division's yacht ''Gladeye'' as far afield as the Caribbean, Mediterranean or the Canary Islands.

Summary

There is much to do within the Battalion and No 7 Company. We train for a purpose and not just to fill time and we try to make our training as relevant and realistic as possible. We train to make sure that we as individual soldiers and as formed bodies of men, whether within a small section, larger platoon. bigger company or even as a Battalion, are ready for operations anywhere in the world at any time, so that we can live up to our motto of Nulli Secundus, or Second to None!


2008 - Follow up report ....


The interview above was conducted a few years ago during the Battalions Millennium Tour of South Armagh when the charts were filled with Cher’s “Believe” & Ricky Martins “Livin' La Vida Loca” and the biggest hits in cinema were “The Phantom Menace” & “The Sixth Sense”.

It might only seem like yesterday when quoting these hits of yesteryear as they will probably still be fresh in the minds of anyone reading this article.

But in such a relative short time, what has happened to the young ‘keen as mustard’ Nick Jackson who in 1999 was a keen Lance Corporal and Signaller serving in the Battalions Signal Platoon ….



The next 9 years by ‘Colour Sergeant Nick Jackson’.


· On Recruit Training
I recently visited ITC Catterick to talk with some recruits and was pleasantly impressed with the facilities that are now available. When I was in training all we had was a NAAFI shop but today’s recruits have access to all sorts of welfare facilities including; playstations, internet access, video games and Sky TV. There is also an area to just relax and write letters and generally chill out which is always handy when you are working hard. Training has definitely changed but is still full on and any potential recruits have got to be prepared to work long hours and give 100% all of the time. The Army is busier than it has ever been so we need our new soldier to be as well trained as possible, which means training needs to be tough. The Army is a team game which needs team players and everyone needs to put the team first before individual needs. Good training will teach recruits the importance of team work and instil the right ethos which is required in war fighting situations.

· On Battalion Training
Battalion Training is important because even the best soldier in the world gets ‘skill fade’. There is more and more technical equipment in use these days and if you don’t constantly practice you will fall behind. Battalion training is much less intense than Recruit Training but the quality of training is better as it is aimed at a higher level. New members of the Battalion will be introduced slowly into Battalion life and will be encouraged to ask questions at every opportunity. No one is expected to know everything all the time and there is always someone to ask for help or give advice. The great part of being art of a team is
that everyone is pulling in the same direction and there are always more experienced people around. In one day you could training on different pieces of kit from Bowman radio, Grenade Machine Gun, Mortars, Javelin Rocket Launchers and lots more weapons and equipment. There is also driver training and with new vehicles being brought into service all the time the Battalion are always looking for men to train on any licence!

· Public Duties
If you join the Coldstream Guards you have to prepared to do your ‘stint’ of public duties, consisting of Buckingham Palace, St James Palace, the Tower of London and the Queens Birthday Parade (Trooping the Colour). As a Guardsman you will stand on sentry for two hours at a time which is hard work, but after your turn you are then able to relax. Once you have prepared your kit you can then use the gym, watch TV or use the internet – all whilst on guard! The Queens Birthday Parade is my favourite and millions of people watch the parade from all around the world, and the best thing is that no one can do it better than (or like) the Guards! It is the attention to detail that makes us so different, which in turn makes us better. If you enjoy drill then you can join Number Seven Company who are based in London and specialise in Public Duties. They work independently of the Battalion and are involved in regular infantry training and adventure training. Guardsmen are also given more responsibility and paid more in Number Seven Company but once again, you must be prepared to work! Just imagine your parents faces, sat watching you march around Horse Guards Parade Square with Her Majesty the Queen taking the salute …………. there's nothing better!

· On the past 9 years
After the Millenniums Tour of South Armagh I showed interest in taking up post in a Recruiting Office up North some where and being a loyal Yorkshire man I was ecstatic to be selected to take up post as the Coldstream Recruiting Sergeant in Barnsley. The post was for two years and I was promoted to Lance Sergeant on posting. The experience of recruiting was ‘Second to None’ and although it was hard work, it gave me such a buzz to follow someone that had initially knocked on my door with an interest in joining the Coldstream Guards to seeing them join Battalion and Coldstream Family.

After two years at Barnsley I then re-joined the Battalion for the Op Telic Tour in Iraq and was promoted to Sergeant. My role in Iraq was Operations Room Manager, and although it was very demanding, it also was very rewarding. The tour seemed to pass very quickly, probably because we were all so busy!

The Battalion moved from Aldershot to Windsor and I was still serving in the Signals Platoon taking part in many exercises all over the country and completing a couple of extensive and exhausting signals courses that would benefit my career in the future. I was also very fortunate to represent Headquarter Company a couple of times in the Inter Company Pace Sticking Competition (link to images). The Battalion were then sent on Op Herrick (Afghanistan) where I was one of a handful of individuals that had the role of teaching the Afghanistan National Army in very important routines such as avoiding mines, suicide strikes and communication procedures.

On the return from Afghanistan I was promoted to Colour Sergeant and took on my present role as the Signals Colour Sergeant/Quartermaster Sergeant where my role is to administer all members of the Signal Platoon, ensure all communications plans are up to date and more importantly be the sole signature for the Battalion’s Signal and Communications Equipment – about Ł12million pounds worth!

It may seem like a lot to fit into such a short time, but in that period I have still managed to fit in getting my Motocross Licence, do some time adventure training Sailing in Majorca, and take full advantage of playing Rugby for the Battalion.

The future …………….. my 22 year point is up in 2016 and I have another 8 years left, let me get back to you in a couple of years for another sit-rep!

N Jackson
Signals CSgt



CSgt Nick Jackson is a fine example of a career in the Coldstream Guards. He will no doubt take over as the Regimental Signals Warrant Officer in the very near future which would be a pinnacle in most soldiers careers. The future is still very bright for CSgt Jackson and yes he is ‘still keen as mustard’ …………… when he can find his beret!

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