Members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment paraded in the Buffadero Training complex to conduct a Commanding Officers PT session, involving a 4-mile tactical march in the Upper Rock carrying 15 kgs. The event concluded with the Commanding Officer Lt Colonel Simon Dyson presenting four CO’s Coins and promoting two individuals.
- The recipients of the Coins were:
- LCpl Arnold Rogers
- Mr El-Carasi
- Warrant Officer Class 2 Jeffries-Mor
- Private Mercieca
Those in receipt of promotions were:
Sergeant Thomas Nicholls who was promoted to Colour Sergeant, in the new year he starts a new role in the School of Infantry, based in Catterick, North Yorkshire, as part of the training assurance team.
2nd Lieutenant Rhodri Thomas was promoted to Lieutenant and in the new year will be part of the Queen Division Courses Cell which is based in Sennybridge, Powys. He will assume the appointment of Platoon Commander and will be instructing potential junior NCOs from across the division.
The Royal Gibraltar Regiment motto, ‘Nulli Expungabilis Hosti’, translates as, ‘Conquered by no enemy,’ and rings true for all of Gibraltar in 2020. Against the backdrop of the pandemic we have been busy as a Regiment training and honing our skills, developing our soldiers and putting ourselves to the test physically and mentally.
Here’s to 2021 and better times for everyone on the Rock, home and away, so links can further be cemented with the community through events like HM Queen’s Birthday and the Ceremony of the Keys.
At the start of December, SAC Rhodri ‘Rhodders’ Sutton and SAC Yvonne ‘Netty’ Sidaway were deployed to RAF Gibraltar and were pivotal assets to the Movements Team during a busy surge period.
In the 8-day period, they handled 8 aircraft, including a US Navy C130 and assisted with the building of 4671Kgs of outbound resupply freight and 6168Kgs of inbound freight. Showcasing their wide-ranging skill set, they have also facilitated with large passenger moves amounting to 132 passengers.
During SAC Sidaway’s time here she received the news that she had been offered promotion to Corporal.
The Station held a small, socially distanced presentation where the RAF Station Commander, Wing Cdr Nel Doherty, congratulated her and thanked them both for their sterling efforts and invaluable support during a hectic period.
Following the presentation, the Station Commander said, “It is always a pleasure to be able to inform someone of their promotion, and to hand over the precious new ‘tapes’ (rank insignia). To do this for Nettie today was an additional privilege as it seemed a fitting ‘thank you’ for the efforts of her and the rest of the team from 4624 (RAuxAF) Sqn in supporting a very busy period of operations from the Airfield over the past few weeks. We wish her all the best for her future career and hope to welcome her back to the Rock in the near future … but this time as a Corporal!”
