Guest Editorial
Vehicle Support Team (VST) Intro to VST – Col Paul Cummings – Acting Head VST
T
he Vehicle Support Team (VST) support nearly all of the current in-service fleet of land platforms. From Quad Bikes to Challenger 2, Foxhound to Bulldog and everything in-between. We are the people behind the platform, managing upgrades, safety, supply chains, technical through life support, as well as repair and deep overhaul; to the tune of around £400M a year. We are a large team, all of whom focus on meeting the needs of the Front-Line Commands (FLCs) and predominantly the Field Army. With a mix of military personnel (from Sgt to WO1 and Capt to Brig) and Civil Servants, numbering around 400 people, some have been with us for over 40 years whilst some arrived only this month! We are made up of many sub-teams, but the largest REME contingents are within Operations and Operations Support and, in this article, we’ll give you a feel for where our REME personnel are, what they do and why they love it.
Maj Wayne K Burnard MBE – Operations Team COS The Operations Team provide ‘best in class’ support to the FLCs; the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force. HQ Field Army under the new Army Operating Model set the activity profile and demand signal to baseline the level of support that the Operations Team must deliver. Our mission is keeping safe, reliable and fit equipment in the hands of the user. The team’s ethos is that no matter what happens we must always support the user as best we can. The Operations Team is split into 12 sub-teams, which we call Order Book Items (OBIs), focusing on specific platform groups that contain a total of 35 in-service platform types amounting to circa 26,000 platforms. Within each of the OBIs sits the project teams led by an Operations Manager who is supported by functional staff (Commercial Officers, Cost Controllers, Technical Through Life Support personnel, Supply Chain Managers and Engineers) to tackle platform specific issues, such as safety, finance, risk and engineering. The Operations team directly support the platforms in barracks and deployed on exercise & operations. Next you will read about REME Officers and Artificers who contribute to the Operations Team in various roles. The roles develop
SQEP in engineering, safety, risk, finance, supply chain and commercial activities up to Cap & Acq practitioner level. It is challenging and rewarding in equal measure; supporting the platforms no matter what they are being asked to do. The benefits of working in a diverse environment that is a mix of civilian and military personnel are clear, and it is great to see how passionate the civilian staff are in delivering an effect for the user groups they support. My personal experience has been outstanding, I have learnt a lot and it has been a real privilege to be part of this team.
Lt Col Tim Turner – Senior Operations Manager Being a Senior Operations Manager (SOM) is akin to a Command appointment in a Battalion and it certainly has all the benefits and challenges. Supporting the troops is the focus of all teams in DE&S so having military staff officers and Warrant Officers in selected appointments enables that whilst complementing the expertise of our civilian colleagues. Having been in a SOM role since completing ACSC, I have been managing a portfolio of various armoured vehicles including Warrior, Challenger, CRARRV, Titan and Trojan, I am responsible for their ongoing safety, availability and improvement. Working with my team of 25 Civil Servants and 4 military personnel, I manage a budget of
VST, just some of the Team
4 craftsmaneditor@reme-rhq.org.uk
Colonel Paul Cummings (Deputy Head Vehicle Support Team)
