71 Engineer Regiment is made up of three Squadrons including Paisley-based 102 Field Squadron, which specialises in construction plant and combat infrastructure.
They’ve had a busy 12 months since Project Plant last caught up with them – a state of affairs which shows no signs of slowing down.
Project Plant’s Fraser Rummens met with Corporal Gordon Parkinson and Second Lieutenant, Rea McGown to discuss the work the Regiment has been doing both at home and around the world.
Cpl. Parkinson transferred into 71 Engineer Regiment in 2009, having previously served with the Royal Logistics Corps. He said the Regiment was in Northern Ireland at the start of the year “working on a training area, putting in a new demolitions area. That involved taking down existing embankments, relocating them, (and) building them back up to maybe 20 metres high to create an enclosure so when explosions go off, the chances of shrapnel and debris getting thrown out of the area and causing injury is minimised. We were using excavators, dozers, medium wheelies and then tippers.”
Tasks included ground reduction work, spoil moving and grading. Another recent project involved working on roadways and ditches in Cyprus.
The Regiment spent nine days in May at Rothiemurchus, Aviemore. Cpl. Parkinson continued, “There’s a lodge up there that the Army uses throughout the year for adventure training, whether that’s in the winter for skiing or in the summer for mountain leader courses. The track way that leads up to it is basically compacted earth so through general use it’ll get potholed throughout the year, so one of our tasks it going up there, scraping it back down, taking the potholes out and basically giving them a decent service so you don’t get rattled to bits as you drive up to the lodge.
(We also clear and maintain) existing culverts that are at various locations along the length of the 4km track that lead up to the lodge.
“We were using the Volvo graders, what we like to call rubber ducks – which is the wheeled excavators – we were using the medium wheelies again, light wheelies, rollers.”
In June, the Regiment travelled to South Dakota to take part in a training exercise called Exercise Golden Coyote. This is an annual event where service members from America and some of their military allies sharpen their skills by taking part in realistic training scenarios. “(This is) where we get paired up with the South Dakota National Guard,” Cpl. Parkinson added. “We had two task sites out there and, again, it was road reinstatement or road creation (work). America’s a big place, big trucks; they tend to put in tracks wherever they want. In Belle Fourche they’ve got Orman Dam, which was the biggest earth mounded dam in the world when it was created. One of our jobs was to make this unofficial track way more of a track, putting in culverts, so we had our guys integrate with the Americans.
“As a plant section commander, I was working alongside what was the equivalent rank for myself in America; we were running the task site between us. That also involved me helping train a lot of their new guys who are not long out of training on capabilities on machines so it wasn’t just a case of standing around, watching the guys do the job – it was making sure that they knew how to use the machinery, and we were getting trained up on their kit that we just don’t have over here.”
So, how does the plant equipment in the States compare to what the Regiment is used to? Put simply: ‘It’s bigger.’
“It’s just relative to size,” said Cpl. Parkinson. “Whereas we use Cat D5 dozers, they use D8s or D6s, so bigger than what we use but, then again, that’s possibly down to real estate issues.
“We were using Cat’s bowl scrapers. It’s not something we use over here, but they are available in Britain.” He described the bowl scraper as “very much a multifunctional vehicle. They can be used to cut ground level, remove ground and then actually to build up and spread.”
Given the wide range of, sometimes hostile, environments in which the plant equipment is required, is it necessary to modify it in any way? “It all depends, obviously”, added Cpl. Parkinson. “Even though we may have the variant type of light wheel tractor, there will be different variants of it. Out in Afghanistan, we had the HMEE, which is basically an armoured JCB. It’s a bit slower obviously because of the increased weight.
“So, we do have variants and we can put additional armour onto things. We’ve got Bobcats, both unarmoured and fully armoured. There is the capability for a multitude of equipment types.”
What is the process involved in becoming a plant operator in the 71 Engineer Regiment? “First of all, you have to get through your recruit phase; we’re all soldiers so we have to have a recruit phase. We’re all trained basic infanteers. We then do skills training to become engineers. In the Royal Engineers, regardless of what career trade you actually take, we are all engineers, so we all can do basic fieldwork.
“After that, what you’ve got to do is driver’s licence acquisition, so you go and get your Cat C licence and then once we’ve done that, it’s getting familiarised on military vehicles and doing general mechanical principles, general service driver and then after that, it’s two weeks away at the Royal School of Military Engineering down in Chatham learning how to operate the light wheeled and medium wheeled tractors.
“When you join the Reserves and become a plant operator, there are two levels. The first is what’s called a POM (Plant Operator Mechanic) class 2 and that’s, basically, you learn your wheeled machines. What we would call a light wheel tractor, or light wheelie, is a JCB 4CX Sitemaster, currently, so we’ll use that for digging mortar trenches, digging battle trenches for the infantry, general track work, loading vehicles. The other piece of machinery you get trained on is a JCB 436 wheeled shovel loader. That’s our two base bits of kit that we use for the class 2 operators. As a class 1 operator, you start using the D5 dozer, the Bomag 177 roller and you have opportunities to go and do excavators and graders as well.
“Looking back at where I was when I first joined, as to where I am now, I joined with no driving licences – I’ve (now) got virtually all of them – all paid for by the Army thankfully, and the best thing is, not only do they pay for the licence, they paid for me to go and get my licence. As a person, I’m more confident than what I was. I was quite shy, withdrawn and quite awkward in some respects, so it’s helped me with my confidence.
“It’s just given me a whole world of opportunities I wouldn’t have necessarily had.”
This is why the 71 Engineer Regiment appealed to Second Lieutenant, Rea McGown. “There are a lot of different opportunities in the Royal Engineers, especially for a female. It’s really diverse,” said the 23-year-old Troop Commander, who joined as an Officer whilst completing her studies at the University of Glasgow.
“I attended the Reserve Troop Commander course at the Royal School of Military Engineering in Minley. Here, we learnt the basic principles of military engineering over two weeks; trying to cram in what the regulars would learn over six months. We covered battlefield construction engineering, water supply, demolitions, bridge building, reconnaissance, advising roles and the management of people and specialist equipment.
“I get to plan, lead and manage projects all over the world. So far I’ve been on exercise with the regulars up in Kinloss. We’re paired with 39 Engineer Regiment and have completed air support tasks up there. I’m deploying to the Falklands next week to make vital repairs to the Mount Pleasant airport complex, including building a new car park. During my short time in the Army, I’ve climbed Mount Kenya and Mont Blanc. The opportunities are endless; you get as much as you want to get out of it. There is always something you can do. If you’ve got the time and you’re keen, you can go for it.
“This year alone we’ve been on construction tasks in the Falklands, Cyprus and South Dakota, working with the American reserve counterparts. Tasks we’ve done at home include bridging and demolition work, we’ve been up building animal enclosures in The Highland Wildlife Park and we’ve put in bridges and tracks for the World Orienteering Championships. On top of that we have our own training and social events; we take part in an Annual Remembrance parade, conduct battlefield tours and, of course, compete in sports competitions. 71 Engineers are the reigning Reserve Football Champions for two years in a row now so this year we are aiming for the hat trick.”
Going into more detail about her trip to the Falklands, 2Lt McGown said, “The main task out there is to replace a section of car park that’s not fit for purpose at the minute at the main airport in Mount Pleasant. We’ll be constructing the whole thing from laying the foundations to connecting it with a footpath to the main terminal. This will allow the free flow of civilian traffic, and therefore stop the congestion on the main road, allowing quicker and smoother delivery of vital supplies to the airfield. It’s going to be quite a challenging task as the airport must remain fully accessible throughout the works. The key thing is, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. People still think the Army is all about running around in a field being cold, wet and miserable. It’s not. There’s a lot of money being invested in the Reserves right now and there are a lot of exciting things happening.”
