CARMARTHENSHIRE County Council’s top brass came face to face with the Army’s top brass in an Army Engagement event held at Parc y Scarlets on Thursday (Jul 14). A large Army presence gathered outside and inside the stadium, giving invited local businesses and community organisations the opportunity to engage with them.
The man in charge of events was Colonel Lance Patterson, the Deputy Commander of 160th Infantry Brigade.
Colonel Patterson told The Herald that he had been in the Army for 28 years. He is a former pupil of Bryngwyn School in Llanelli and a graduate of Leicester University. Colonel Patterson said that he had gone straight into the army from university where he attended Sandhurst and received his commission.
Speaking about the event, he said: “I am here to talk about what the British Army does now and what we are doing in Wales. We have a team from London and Wales here and we are focussing on communication. We are setting out where your taxes a being spent. We have a covenant between the nation and the army, which is aimed at looking after our servicemen and women. If you are serving in the army, you can get free access to swimming pools. There are a number of issues surrounding serving men and women and their families. Children of servicemen are in local schools and families live in the local community.”
Questions were asked by a number of community organisations about what they could do to offer more support to the Army. The reply was that the Army does quite well with its own in -house services and that anyone interested in working with the army should seek advice from the County’s Armed Forces Champion, who happens to be County Councillor David Jenkins.
Inspector Rhys Williams from Dyfed -Powys Police asked if the Army Engagement team worked with the police force on their ‘Be the Best’ programme. He said that it would be something he would be interested in finding out more about.
Speaking to The Herald after the event, Inspector Williams said that he was at the event to find out what opportunities there were for working with the Army Engagement team. He said: “We have some reserves in the police force and it is possible for people to juggle being a police officer with being in the reserves. There are obviously benefits for both parties given the quality of training both the police and army provide.”
During a multimedia presentation, the audience saw and heard the story of Paul, a homeless man who had been introduced to one of the Army’s programmes in the community, where he had been referred by the Department of Work and Pensions onto a scheme and was now holding down a job with a local builder who had become a partner with the Army engagement team.
The Herald asked Colonel Patterson what changes were ahead for the army as a result of Great Britain leaving the EU. He said: “As far as a the British Army and NATO are concerned, it is business as usual. Our commitment to UK security remains the same.”
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