RLC Foundation Awards Dinner 8th November 2017

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RLC Foundation Awards Dinner 8th November 2017

On 8 November 2017 the third annual RLC Foundation Awards Dinner was held at the Headquarters Officers’ Mess at Deepcut. Maj Gen Angus Fay, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, Logistics Operations, Personnel, hosted the event. We had 102 in attendance, including Lt Gen Mark Poffley, the Master General of Logistics and an eclectic mix of serving military and civilian partners. The principal aim of the Foundation is to encourage professional development and thought leadership by engaging with Industry and Academia. The Awards Programme is designed to recognise significant achievements in line with these goals both within the RLC and wider Industry. Without the generous sponsorship of individual awards by Industry the event would not be possible and we are grateful for the superb support provided, and to Pearson TQ for sponsoring the dinner programme.
There were seven awards in 2017; the award nominees and winners were:

Award 1: RLC Foundation Mentoring Support Award – Sponsor: The RLC
Winner: SSgt Robert Caarten – 10 QOGLR;
Runner Up: Mr John Strike – 17 Port and Maritime Regt RLC
Citation
Having recognised the lack of trade opportunities for junior soldiers in the Queens Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment he has personally created a programme to assure a development pathway. This enables those in the training environment to gain relevant and comprehensive professional accreditation. This is against the backdrop of an RLC unit without a live custodial account on which Logistic Supply Specialists would normally learn their trade. His most significant initiative was the introduction of regular placements to assist with stock-taking, accounting and processing demands on a live custodial account. The value of this experience, training and mentoring cannot be under estimated, as these soldiers would normally have to deploy to gain such experience. In conjunction with his day job he has personally mentored 60 soldiers who are now fully trained in their specialisation. This has been a remarkable contribution by Staff Sergeant Bicker-Caarten.

Award 2: The RLC Foundation Industry Professional Development Award – Sponsor: DHL
Winner: Ernst and Young;
Runner Up: Engineering and Logistic Staff Corps
Citation
Active engagement between the RLC Foundation and the Ernst & Young Woman’s Network began in November 2015 and continues to blossom within many joint ventures having been held over the past 2 years. In early May this year Ernst & Young scoped an exercise between General Dynamics and 4 Regiment RLC to understand supply chain problems across the Purple Gate. In late May Ernst & Young hosted a Logistics 101 event in London looking at “what makes a professional logistician”. Both these events were extremely well supported and enabled the military to gain a valuable insight into commercial supply chain issues. Planning with Ernst & Young, Lincoln University and the Foundation is well underway to tri-host an academic Thought Leadership event early next year. The success of the RLC Foundation thus far is due in no small measure to the outstanding support from the Ernst & Young Woman’s Network.

Award 3: The RLC Foundation Regional Partnership Award – Sponsor: Leidos
Winner: Ubi-tech;
Runner Up: PA Consulting
Citation
Ubi-tech (3R) Ltd has been successfully delivering continuous professional development training for the RLC Communication Specialists since 2015. They provide ELCAS approved Post Graduate Certificate training in wireless communications which is accredited by the University of Wolverhampton. To date 26 Communications Specialists, rank ranged from Lance Corporal to Warrant Officer Class 1 have been trained, with another Post Graduate Certificate course planned for February 2018. It is testimony to Ubi-Tech’s excellent instruction, professional development and mentoring of our soldiers that all written submissions to Wolverhampton University have been successful. They also provide assistance and advice to soldiers at the end of their military career, helping with CVs and identifying civilian career opportunities. They were stalwart supporters of the Defence School of Transport Armed Forces Day. Ubi-tech definitely goes that extra mile and their support to the RLC Foundation has been truly outstanding.

Award 4: Best Professional Article in the RLC Foundation Review Magazine 2017 – Sponsor: Ernst and Young
Winner: Capt Alexander MacLaverty DST;
Runner Up: Major Andrew Cox DST
Paper Title – Why did the Dieppe Raid prove such a disaster and what was learnt from it that led to the success seen on D-Day?

Award 5: RLC Foundation Thought Leadership Award – Sponsor – PA Consulting
Winner: General Dynamics
Runner Up: DHL
Citation
General Dynamics were a founding corporate partner of the RLC Foundation, having joined in December 2015. In May this year General Dynamics hosted a Problem Solving exercise at Oakdale, Wales. The exercise involved supply subject matter experts from General Dynamics and Logistic Specialists (Supply) from 4 Regiment RLC exploring key supply chain issues across the Purple Gate and, the opportunities that exist for tracking individual items and improving delivery times in the future. 4 Regiment RLC will host General Dynamics early next year in a ‘return match’ to keep the momentum going and further explore new aspects of inventory management. General Dynamics and 4 Regiment RLC are presently exploring personnel attachments to further enhance their collaborative understanding of ‘end to end’ supply chain issues. Staunch supporters of the RLC Foundation General Dynamics contribution has been exemplary.

Award 6: RLC Foundation Junior Initiative Award – Sponsor: Kuehne and Nagel
Winner: Cpl Mathew Brown HQ 3 (UK) Div
Runner Up: SSgt Karly Bond 27 Regt RLC
Citation
To quote the Force Ordnance Warrant Officer, Field Army “Corporal Brown is an outstanding role model for all soldiers, utterly trustworthy and a stalwart of values and standards. Command Ordnance Warrant Officer in the making.” Technically adept and a very competent communicator he has a real knack of extracting and analysing data which resulted in potential savings of 1.3m for 3rd(United Kingdom) Division when he identified account discrepancies. He has provided support on comprehensive Logistic Specialist (Supply) trade training external validation. Corporal Brown is the beginning of the new culture of Logistic Specialists (Supply) he is professionally competent and has the confidence to add value wherever he is employed and understands the importance of intelligent supply chain management. An outstanding soldier who definitely punches way above his weight.

Award 7 – RLC Foundation Apprentice of the Year Award 2017 – Sponsor – Ubi-tech –
Winner: LCpl Rommel Tem Meh – 27 Regiment RLC
Runner Up: Cpl Michael Ford – 29 Regiment RLC
Citation
Lance Corporal Tem Meh has completed his Logistics Operations Advanced Apprenticeship. During his Apprenticeship he was assigned to the Falkland Islands, this could have impeded other students but not Lance Corporal Meh. He remained fully focussed throughout and completed every aspect of training with a flawless commitment to achieve this goal. He ensured that all training was conducted to the highest standard, even taking on additional work in his spare time, which set him above his peer group and reflected the high standard he achieved at the end of his apprenticeship training. His performance has been simply exemplary and reflects the hard work put in by this soldier.
Many congratulations to both the Winners and Runners up for their outstanding achievements in 2017. The Awards nomination process for 2018 will be found in the Sustainer and on the Foundation website early in the New Year. We encourage you to identify suitable candidates who can be nominated for their achievements.

Photographs of Winners

Captain Alexander MacLaverty (right) winner of The Best Professional Article Published in the RLC Review Magazine.
Captain Alexander MacLaverty (right) winner of The Best Professional Article Published in the RLC Review Magazine.
Image Staff Sergeant Robert Bicker-Caarten (right) of 10 The Queens Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment who has been awarded The RLC Foundation Mentoring Support Award.<br />
Staff Sergeant Robert Bicker-Caarten (right) of 10 The Queens Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment who has been awarded The RLC Foundation Mentoring Support Award.
Representatives from Ernst & Young who have been awarded The RLC Foundation Industry Professional Development Award.
Representative from General Dynamics (right) who have been awarded The RLC Foundation Thought Leadership Award.
Mr Richard Lee (right), Managing Director for Ubi-tech (3R) Ltd who have been awarded The RLC Foundation Regional Partnership Award.
Lance Corporal Tem Meh (right) winner of The RLC Foundation Apprentice of the Year 2017.

Corporal Matthew Brown Winner of The RLC Foundation Junior Initiative Award.

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