A team of Engineering Technicians from HMS Sultan have been pushing all boundaries, as they prepare for the challenge that awaits them in the Junior Leaders Field Gun Competition.
Hot on the heels of the Seniors Challenge which took place on Saturday 3 June, HMS Collingwood will again host the annual Junior Leaders Field Gun Competition on Friday 7 July.
The competition is very similar to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity Field Gun, but is predominantly for youths aged 16-24, who have either only recently joined the Armed Forces or have just begun apprenticeships with major commercial organisations.
A total of 18 crews are expected to compete and in addition to the Armed forces the competition will also include teams from the Princes Trust, local Colleges, Sea Cadet units and University Technical Colleges across the country.
HMS Sultan’s Junior Leaders Field Gun crew is made up of hopefuls from the Defence School of Marine Engineering (DSMarE) who are nearing the completion of their Engineering Technician Initial Career Course.
After completing 30 weeks of training to prepare them for life at sea within the Marine Engineering branch, the group now face one last challenge in attempting to bring silverware back to HMS Sultan.
After spending 3 days training on the Parade Ground at HMS Sultan, the crew are now heading over to take part in further training and the competition at HMS Collingwood where they will be expected to complete timed runs with the field gun along a track, assembling and disassembling the gun at various points along the way.
The team have been trained by HMS Sultan Junior Leaders Field Gun Officer, Warrant Officer 1, Steve Drayton. He said: “All of the trainees are so keen to perform in the arena, their commitment is superb.”
“The team are all approaching the competition as complete novices so Field Gun is completely different.
"They’ve had to learn about track etiquette, track importance, focus, a clean drill and the importance of working for each other.”
“The class we have has worked hard throughout the course and have worked exceptionally well.
"Hopefully they will be able to draw inspiration from being involved with the competition and also get involved with the senior competition as they progress through their careers.”
Around 150 trainees from DSMarE and the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School will travel to watch the Competition. Along with the families of those involved, they will be hoping they can roar Sultan to success.
