Over the weekend of 21-23 February, Reservists from 71 Engineer Regiment were busy braving the elements at Lowland RFCA’s Dechmont Range as they undertook training exercises on two fronts: completing their annual Individual Training Requirements (ITR), as well as carrying out various construction and maintenance tasks around the Range.
Over the course of the weekend, 30 Reservists from the Regiment’s 102, 103 and 124 Squadrons were put through their paces with a series of exercises in fitness, navigation, battlefield casualty and fire and manoeuvre operations, ensuring their continued deployability.
In tandem with their standard military training, the Reservists also used their weekend at Dechmont to fine-tune their specialist skills as an Engineer Regiment. This included completing tasks such as widening tracks to improve vehicle accessibility, and laying gravel on the grounds surrounding the 25 metre firing range for greater ease of access and movement in all weather conditions.
The Regimental weekend at Dechmont proved to be mutually beneficial for both the Reservists and Lowland RFCA, who own and manage the Range, as the maintenance and improvement works met both the RFCA’s needs in ensuring a safe and efficient training space, as well as the Reservists’ needs for hands-on construction training and maintaining their working knowledge of various tools and machines.
To better showcase the breadth of the Reservists’ skill-sets, and how those skill-sets can be carried across into civilian industries, Lowland RFCA invited local employers from the construction and engineering sectors to visit 71 Engineer Regiment at Dechmont on Saturday 22 February. During the visit, the employers were given a tour of the areas undergoing work and talked through the processes and equipment in use at the Range.
Tommy Don, CEO of Ready Construction and holder of an Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award, was thrilled to see the impressive array of skills on display at Dechmont: commenting: ‘I’ve got a few family connections in the Armed Forces so as a company we’re always happy to support the Reserves however we can.
‘The projects we work on at Ready Construction require a lot of specialist skills, so having Reservists such as 71 Engineer Regiment coming in with a sound knowledge base would be great for us, and we can then help them to build on that knowledge and take it back to the Army. It’s a win-win for both sides.’
Corporal Gillespie, a Reservist with Paisley-based 102 Field Squadron, was also pleased to be able to show the employers what he and his colleagues get up to on training weekends:
‘I hope that the employers visiting us today can see their employees or potential employees from a different perspective; working in an environment that’s quite different from what most of them are used to, handling specialist equipment and developing transferable skills that we can bring to their side of the table.’
To find out more about the facilities and training opportunities available at Dechmont Range, or to make a booking request, click here.
