Two heroes of Queen’s Birthday Honours list
Sergeant Paul Moody, a 33-year-old unmanned air vehicle (UAV) commander and mission controller, and Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Stanworth, a Territorial Army officer who is a hospital consultant and pioneered neurosurgery on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan, are among those on this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Stanworth, after more than 49 and a half years’ continuous service to the Territorial Army, has been appointed OBE.
He was the first neurosurgeon to be sent to Camp Bastion, Helmand province.
Moody, of 18 (Quebec 1759) Battery, 32 Regiment Royal Artillery, based in Larkhill on Salisbury Plain. has been appointed MBE for his work commanding, flying, developing, and trialling UAVs for the Army which supply essential intelligence data to forces on the ground. He said of the news: “As soldiers do, as soon as you hear the CO wants to see you, you get a bit worried. When he told me I had been awarded an MBE I did a very good impression of a goldfish.”
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Maiden test flight for the Airbus A330-200
On Thursday the Airbus A330-200, pictured, completed its three-hour maiden test flight in Toulouse, France with flying colours. The A330-200 will replace the RAF’s TriStar and VC10 aircraft. In 2008 14 A330-200-based tanker aircraft were ordered by the Ministry of Defence in part of a £13 billion deal with AirTanker Ltd.
UK takes the lead in ANA training
Bob Ainsworth, the new Defence Secretary, has announced that British Forces are to take the lead in developing and determining the strategic direction and doctrine of a new combined arms training school that will provide courses for the Afghan National Army. The decision follows an agreement at the Nato defence ministers meeting in Brussels and the Prime Minister’s assertions in April that Britain will direct more energy into building Afghanistan’s capabilities and long-term stability.
HMS Gloucester to the South Atlantic
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The Royal Navy warship HMS Gloucester, pictured, a Type 42 destroyer, has departed Portsmouth for a six-month deployment to the South Atlantic. While she will be involved in counter-narcotic operations and humanitarian relief, she is also being used as a courier to deliver artefacts, including photographs, for a display at the Falkland Islands Museum in Port Stanley on loan from the Royal Navy Museum.
From apprentice to Sandhurst
In an interview with the MoD magazine Ben Clarke, the loud-mouthed candidate on The Apprentice, declared that he has not written off taking up his much-talked about place at Sandhurst. Clarke, who became known for bragging about winning a scholarship to the institution, deferred his commission in favour of stockbroking. However, he says: “I am a massive supporter of the Armed Forces. Don’t hold your breath boys, but there is a real possibility that I will be at Sandhurst. I’m sure there are plenty of colour sergeants running around who can’t wait to start yelling at me.”