RAOC Gazette - page 228
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1977 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1977 |
| Late date | 1977 |
| Transcription |
the building itself was legibly labelled ' RAF Support Command,' Now what do you suppose the uninformed casual observer might make of that? Presumably he would deduce that the RAF were loath to leave and the Army was by no means certain that it was there to stay—and I expect there is more than a grain of truth in that! Actually, it was probably a simple case of the DOE or the contractor getting the flow chart back to front. No doubt things have changed now that the move has started. SANDHURST THE picture in the June GAZErrE of 1U0 (now Second Lieutenant) Alan Snions as he took part in his. Sovereign's Parade has prompted our representative at Sandhurst to give me some more in- formation. Of some two hundred and forty British officer cadets in the same in- take as Inicms, thirteen are expected to be commissioned into the Corps. My photograph shows their Colour Party with the Queen's Colour carried by Officer Cadet (now Second Lieutenant) Keith Sunderland. Besides this distinction, Sunderland is a first rate swimmer who came fifth in the one hundred yards Back- stroke in the Army Individual Champion- ships on 26th July, He has come some way since chance brought the RAOC in- to his sights when his mother became PA to the Commandant of 3 BAPD. Any- way, I take this opportunity of wishing Inions, Sunderland and the others of their ntake joining the Corps the very best of ^ood fortune in their careers with us. Those unfamiliar with the appoint- ment may be interested to know that the Warrant Officer with the large wreathed coat of arms badge in my photo is that unique gentleman, the Academy Sergeant Major at Sandhurst, WOl R. P, Huggins, Grenadier Guards. The fact that his badge is very similar to, if much larger than, that of a Conductor is no accident as both are in the top group of Warrant Officers Class 1 (see my observation in the June GAZETTE), The question of whether, or in what circumstances, the Academy Sergeant Major is inferior to the Superintending Clerk, Conductor Briggs, is something over, which people at Sandhurst, being all gentlemen, do not become excited, WHAT'S TO DO AT ANDOYER A FEW weeks ago I chanced to pass by the buildings of the new Logistic Executive at Andover. The organisation had not yet arrived but the signs were that it was on its way. At the gate were two new boards with large Army badges —the lion and crown superimposed on crossed swords. Below each badge on a scroll in letters so small and dark 1 had to stop for a second look were the words ' Logistic Executive/ A furtive beginning, I thought. But then behind these boards I saw that another advised visitors about points of interest at RAF Andover while THE PRINTED WORD RATHER over two years ago I wrote some notes about several of TfrE GAZETTE'S contemporaries, If you can get hold of back numbers, you may care to see what I said under * Matters Military' in May 1975. One of the magazines mentioned is the British Army Review which has changed since then from a red covered booklet to an A4 sized magazine with a black and white pictorial cover. Quite at random, Issue No, 53 of August last year and 55 of April this year are on my desk as I write. Each contains a very wide selec- tion of articles. For example, No. 53 4 ranges from Guerrilla Politics in Argen- tina ' to the really extremely funny ' Equus Militaris* (or 'Army Horse' to the uninitiated); in No. 5$ we can look at 'Israel's Girl Soldiers* (are they all like that?) and the * Soviet Soldier'— both professionally important, if ill- assorted, subjects for our attention. Each of these two magazines contains no less than three items by members of the Corps; one of these, Major Digby Smith, is a regular contributor to a variety of publications and writes well on military matters, both past and present. Keep an eye open for the British Army Review- er pester your Chief Clerk for it—be- cause it comes automatically to every Headquarter and Unit. The other magazine I want to men- tion here is * Soldier,' Soldier's aim might 1 think be expressed as " t o keep the Army in the soldier's eye'*—to misquote a current slogan. I think every member of the Corps needs to know what is going on in the Army at large or he will not pull his weight in the right direction. * Soldier' is improving all the time and really does cover a lot of ground. There is even a families section which should be popular back on * the patch.' How- ever, like our GAZETTE, * Soldier' has to be bought by many more people to survive and we should all consider buy- ing both. Don't fall into the trap of saying that we can shoot, store or type quite well without these magazines; of course we can but the point is that just as we have a life rather than simply a job, so we need our own specialised com- munications media alive to our own activities, needs, hopes and fears. Both magazines are in this bracket but, in the words of our November 1911 issue: " Don't read this in somebody else's Gazette"* ESTIMATE OR GUESSTIMATE Photo Marshalls of — 173 — Camberley. IF we are to believe our newspapers few estimates connected with the public service are these days even remotely accurate. How often do we see that such and such a project has not only failed com- pletion by the due date but has also |
| Book number | R0246 |