Page 23 - Flaming Cauldron – Issue 59

ACC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

the realities of civilian commercial life and made
some contacts that would be useful through my
later career.
From there, with other overseas postings
becoming more scarce, I was fortunate to posted
to Cyprus in January 1991 as SO2 Catering at
Headquarters British Forces Cyprus for what was
to become my last tour, although I didn’t know it
at the time. Only a few months into my new job,
the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) role of
SO2 Food Supply was disestablished and I took on
that appointment as well; the winds of change were
blowing in my direction.
Some may remember Options for Change in the
early 1990s which resulted in a reduction in the
Judging Xmas cakes with strength of the Armed Forces and the amalgama-
the CO’s wife Mrs Scott tion of the ACC into The Royal Logistic Corps
and Master Chef WO2 (RLC) in April 1993. Well, for the first 2 of 3
Connor HQ1(BR) Corps years my year of birth (1955 since you ask) was not
Bielefeld
included in the Options for Change programme so
Another posting was to the Support Regiment I couldn’t apply to be considered for redundancy
for Headquarters 1st British Corps in Bielefeld, therefore I just kept my head down and got on
another great location, inspirational Royal Tank with the job. Unlike many others, I was spared
Regiment Commanding Officer, many friends redundancy. However, in the 3rd year, not only was
from various Corps and Regiments, Cold War my year of birth eligible to apply to be considered
exercises, skiing and adventure training, includ- for redundancy, but it was also well known that
ing a couple of spells as a residential instructor in the ACC was going to be merged into The RLC.
Norway. Regrettably, this was my first and only You will recall that I didn’t have a great academic
tour in Germany until I returned many years later start to life and didn’t go to university, so I started
as a civilian, more of which later. During this tour to study for a part-time MBA before leaving for
I was fortunate enough to be selected for Ex Long Cyprus and I was fortunate enough to be able to
Look, the exchange exercise with the Australian continue whilst serving overseas.
Army Catering Corps, where I spent some Suddenly I had a decision to make about my
weeks at Puckapunyal before taking myself off to future.
Queensland, Perth and Sydney. Having had the good fortune to get where I had
If you get the impression that I was enjoying with the support of a Corps that was close to my
my time as an Officer in the ACC, you would head and my heart, it was a very difficult decision
be correct! Presenting a cheque to apply for redundancy, knowing that as I hadn’t
I was also Staff Officer Grade 3 (SO3 ACC1) from the ACC Association gone to Staff College, my future career options
Cyprus to a local school
in our Directorate in Aldershot responsible for, would probably be limited. It has to be said that the
(eldest son Duncan,
amongst other things, officer and soldier staff work, front left) compensation package was also attractive, so I put
as well as supporting an SO2 and SO1, full Colonel
and Brigadier (Director ACC) in those days. Whilst
the work was quite demanding and not quite so
much fun as in other postings, I learned much from
my senior colleagues which has stood me in good
stead for the remainder of my working life. I also
served as a Company Commander in the Training
Battalion and Depot (ACC) in the rank of major.
My next appointment was as SO2 Contracts
at Land Command, Wilton. Some will remember
that we had embarked upon the challenge of letting
more and more catering contracts, incorporating
cleaning and other support functions. Together with
a couple of other colleagues in what was an early
version of an Integrated Project Team (Finance,
Technical & Contractual), I was deeply involved in
letting and reletting many of the Army’s catering
and cleaning contracts. Although not popular with
many Commanding Officers, I learnt much about

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