by Major E S Mathieson
Second in Command 1st Battalion Welsh Guards
Since assuming Readiness in May 2017, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards has been stood by to deploy as part of the Spanish 7th Brigade should NATO be tasked to provide a rapid response force. In May a small team took part in Ex AZOR LINEAGE and Ex VALIANT WARRIOR was designed to be a formal review of the Readiness year.
With the majority of the Battalion involved in Ex KABUL MARKSMAN, I travelled to Pontevedra, Spain to take part in a lessons learned process. We were hosted by the Brigade Headquarters and spent 48 hours ploughing through a variety of points from a multi-national audience. The aim was to ensure that future brigades on Readiness were as well prepared as possible and could minimise the inevitable frictions involved in co-ordinating military activity across multiple partners.
The symposium finished with a Vino Espanol and a chance to meet the Brigade eagles.
