News

February 19th 2019

The Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Marc Jones, and the Chief Constable of Lincolnshire, Bill Skelly, visited 4 (Lincolnshire) Company, 3^rd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment. This gave them an opportunity to get a better understanding of what the Reserves do and how working together can benefit both organisations.

The Chief Constable inspected the soldiers on parade which included two soldiers who currently work for Lincolnshire Police. One is a serving police officer and another is a dispatch operator at the County’s Police HQ. Speaking with these soldiers gave them a better understanding of how skills developed in the Army Reserve can be beneficial to the Police.

The visitors were then shown around Sobraon Barracks including the many historic Lincolnshire Regiment memorials and artefacts that form an important element of the Royal Anglian Regiment’s history.

The key part of the visit is the background and capability brief given by the Officer Commanding, Major Mitch Pegg.  This gave the visitors an insight into what the Battalion and Company does and the wider strategic tasks of the Army Reserves. The possibility of training and working together on future UK resilience tasks was also included in discussions.

The Chief Constable and PCC then saw the soldiers training in a section attack drill, before concluding with a demonstration of personal weapons and optical sights given by Colour Sergeant Wayne Sheils. The evening ended with an informal chat with the reservists, where Private Jones was happy to hear that she is entitled to three paid days to play football for the Police – in addition to her call-ups to play for the Army Reserves football team.

As a result of the visit and after praising the Reservists for their commitment in combining Reserve Service with work and family responsibilities, the Chief Constable and PCC are keen to engage further with 4 Company.