Patron: General The Lord Richards of Hertsmonceux GCB CBE DSO / Exercise ATLANTIC UBIQUE
Directorate of Personnel Capability,
Ramillies Building, IDL 423,
Marlborough Lines, Andover,
Hampshire, SP11 8HJ
Tel: Mil - 94391 7706; Civ - 01264 381706
E-mail:
See Distr / Ref: RAYC/ExAU/001
Date: 24 Feb 14
EXERCISE ATLANTIC UBIQUE – WARNING ORDER 1
1. Background. The Gunners are conducting an adventurous sail training expedition as part of the Royal Artillery tercentenary celebrations “UBIQUE 300”. The expedition is open to all Regular and Reserve Royal Artillery officers and soldiers and may include the opportunity for participation by some qualified retired individuals. The RAYC flagship, St Barbara V, will depart Gosport mid-Sep 15 and will return to the UK by mid-Aug 16. The proposed route sees the yacht sail to the Canary Islands then, via the Cape Verde Islands, westward across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. This would be followed by 3 months of cruising around the Caribbean islands before sailing up the eastern seaboard of the USA and Canada which presents excellent opportunities to reaffirm links with Allied and Commonwealth artillery nations. Finally, St Barbara would return eastward across the Atlantic, via the Azores, back to the UK.
2. Aim. The overall aim of the expedition is to sail the Gunner yacht to America and back with as many Royal Artillery personnel participating as possible, in order to further enhance the reputation of the RAYC as one of the Army’s premier yacht clubs, contribute towards Gunner ethos and esprit de corps, including the tercentenary celebrations, and gain all the well documented benefits of true adventurous sail training for the individuals involved.
3. The aim of this warning order is to distribute outline information on the proposed expedition to the Gunner chain of command and wider community. It is also intended to encourage Regiments, Headquarters, other bespoke groups and individuals to consider this ambitious adventurous training expedition in their Royal Artillery tercentenary celebrations estimate process.
4. Chain of Command Support. Buy-in and overt support from across the RA chain of command is essential if this challenging and exciting sailing expedition is to get afloat. Regimental 2ICs or Training Majors must be the focal point for each Regular and Reserve Gunner regiment respectively. Each regiment should nominate early a sailing officer who must be supported fully by the chain of command. Other organisations should identify their sailing lead officer or Warrant Officer/SNCO who should be assisted closely throughout the bidding, planning and organisational stages. Finally, Regimental Training Officers need to be integrated fully into the preparation for each crew that participates in this challenging expedition. Detailed oversight and assistance in scheduling and booking relevant sailing courses as well as monitoring qualification acquisition and progression will be necessary in most instances.
5. Expedition Executive Committee. The Ex AU executive committee includes those listed below alongside the role and responsibilities they hold. Any initial questions should be directed to the relevant committee member in the first instance.
a. Col Neil Wilson – Exercise Director.
b. Lt Col Tim Wood – Exercise Plans and Finance.
c. Lt Col (Retd) Mac McCormack – Yacht QM and route planner.
d. Lt Col Matt White – Exercise Organisation, Coord and Comms.
6. Finances. Central Army and adventure training funds will be applied for by the exercise executive committee. These will be used to achieve value for money across the expedition and to keep the cost to crews down to an absolute minimum. Participating Headquarters, Regiments and other groups/individuals should consider applying through their chain of command in the usual way for additional funds. In addition, they should consider reducing costs to crew members through the use of the PRI, COPF and any other available legitimate sources. Individuals will be expected to make a personal contribution. It is too early to accurately state how much this will be but it is likely to be in the region of £500-£800 depending on the leg sailed. Exact figures will be promulgated once central funds and other subsidies have been calculated and allocated.
7. Timeline. The expedition will commence in mid-Sep 15 and conclude in mid-Aug 16. Within these dates it is planned to include the sailing legs shown below. Dates are flexible by one or two days either way and will be confirmed later. That creates 18 Unit legs and 3 or 4 Atlantic legs. There will also be 2 x 1-week maintenance periods, one on arrival in St Lucia in mid-Feb and one before embarking on the return across the Atlantic in mid-May.
a. 20 Sep 15 - 19 Nov 15: Four Eastern Atlantic 2-week legs (Gosport to Canaries/Canaries to Canaries cruising x 2/Canaries to Cape Verde).
b. 19 Nov 15 - 10 Dec 15: One 3-week Atlantic crossing (Cape Verdes to St Lucia).
c. 10 Dec 15 - early Mar 16: Five 2-week legs operating from St Lucia until beginning of Mar 16.
d. Early Mar 16 - end Mar 16: Two Antigua & BVI 2-week legs.
e. First two weeks in Apr 16: One Atlantic passage to Miami.
f. Mid-Apr 16 - 21 Jun 16: Five East Coast USA 2-week legs.
g. 21 Jun 16 - 21 Jul 16: Two East Coast Canada 2-week legs.
h. 21 Jul 16 - 21 Aug 16: Atlantic crossing to UK via Azores in one long 4-week, or two 2-week legs.
8. Training. Training and qualifications are one of the key elements to the success of the entire expedition. There is currently just less than 20 months until the deployment date and there will be many courses and much refresher training to be completed by those who volunteer as skippers and crew. There are many opportunities to organise shore-based and practical sailing trips in order to establish new skills, update current competences and gain valuable experience prior to participating. The expedition will consist of 20 sailing legs requiring a total of 6 x Yacht Masters Ocean, 20 x Yacht Masters Offshore, 12 x Yacht Masters Coastal and 20 x Day Skippers. Those crew members not skippering or watch leading need not hold any sailing qualifications or have any previous sailing experience. However, a RYA Competent Crew qualification and some recent sailing experience prior to deployment would enable crew members to contribute more to their sailing leg. For safety and individual satisfaction reasons, it is highly recommended that all those participating in long ocean passages have had at least some experience of offshore sailing and would preferably be competent crew qualified.
9. Continuity Skippers/Crew. In order to provide some continuity throughout the expedition, the intent is to identify 5 or 6 continuity skippers/crewman and/or a boatswain who would undertake 6-8 weeks each onboard St Barbara. The purpose is to simplify yacht handover/takeovers, provide a ‘systems expert’ on board and facilitate appropriate maintenance and repairs during sailing and refit periods.
10. Regimental/Headquarters/Group/Individual Requirement. Headquarters, Regiments and other organisations/groups/individuals should scope their potential participation in Exercise ATLANTIC UBIQUE and submit an initial expression of interest. This should be done by completing Annex A and sending it to Lt Col White at Each organisation should then conduct their own initial estimate including aspects such as preferred dates, preferred leg/loc, crew, qualifications, training, finances, flights, etc. It is planned to promulgate the specific sailing leg dates by Easter 14. Each interested organisation should commit to a specific leg by 1 Jul 14, whereupon a financial deposit will be required. It is essential all expressions of interest are submitted through each participating organisation’s Regimental 2IC/TM or an appropriately senior and empowered individual in the Headquarters/organisation/group. This will ensure chain of command involvement and buy-in throughout the bidding process and initial planning stages.
{Original Signed}
N A WILSON
Col
Exercise Director
Annex:
A. Exercise ATLANTIC UBIQUE Initial Expression of Interest.
Distribution:
Action: / Copy to:MOD - ACGS SO1 Pol Plans / MOD - CDP (via MA), DGAR (via MA)
HQ ARRC - SO1 Jt Fires Ops / HQ ARRC - COS (via MA)
HQ Navy - SO1 Trg / HQ Force Troops - SO2 G7 Trg
HQ Army - CD CS OS (COS) / HQ LONDIST - DCOS, SO2 G3 Ops/Trg
HQ Air Command - SO1 Trg / HQ Army - AG (via MA); Director CD CS
JFC - SO1 JW Analysis / JFC - Comd (via MA)
HQ RA - COS / HQ RA - Regt Col, RASM
HQRA 1 (UK) Armd Div - BMRA / HQRA 1 (UK) Div - CRA
HQ OSG 3 (UK) Div - BMRA / HQ OSG 3 (UK) Div - CRA
HQ Sp Comd - SO1 Trg; SO2 AT South / HQ Sp Comd - COS
Def Academy – Maj Hakes / Def Academy – Lt Col Wallwork
RA MCM Div – SO2 Officers / RMAS - Comdt (via ADC)
DES - DES LE AVP Reqts Mngr / RA MCM Div - SO1 Officers
HQ 1 Arty Bde - COS / HQ 1 Arty Bde - Comd
HQ Jt GBAD - COS / HQ Jt GBAD - Comd
HQ RSA - COS / HQ RSA - Comdt
HQ ATG – Chris Coats / LWC - Comd
All Regular RA Regts - 2IC / HQ 1 Bde - SO2 G3
All Reserve RA Regts - TM / HQ 3 Cdo Bde - J7 Trg
All UOTC RA Dets - OC / HQ 4 Bde - G7 PAT
HQ 7 Bde - SO2 G7 Trg, ROG - DCOS
HQ 12 Bde - SO2 & SO3 G7 Trg
HQ 16 AA Bde - SO3 G7 Trg
HQ 20 Bde - SO2 G3 Trg
All Regular RA Regts – CO
All Reserve RA Regts – CO
RAYC – Admiral, Commodore, all Cttee Members
3
ANNEX A TO
RAYC/ExAU/001
Dated 24 Feb 14
EXERCISE ATLANTIC UBIQUE - INITIAL EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
1. HQ/Regt/Org:
2. Regtl 2IC/TM/Senior POC: Name -
Tel – (mil) (mobile)
3. Sailing Officer/exped POC: Name -
Tel – (mil) (mobile)
4. Preferred Leg: (top 3 only; 1 = highest; 3 = lowest)
Ocean (to Canaries) ( ) Canaries cruising ( ) Ocean (to Cape Verdes) ( )
Ocean (to Caribbean) ( ) Caribbean cruising ( ) Ocean (to USA) ( )
US eastern seaboard cruising ( ) Canada eastern seaboard cruising ( )
Ocean (to UK) ( )
5. Preferred dates (top 3 only; 1 = highest; 3 = lowest):
Sep 15 ( ) Oct 15 ( ) Nov 15 ( ) Dec 15 ( ) Jan 16 ( )
Feb 16 ( ) Mar 16 ( ) Apr 16 ( ) May 16 ( ) Jun 16 ( )
Jul 16 ( )
6. Preferred loc (top 3 only; 1 = highest; 3 = lowest)::
Ocean ( ) Canaries ( ) Caribbean ( ) USA ( ) Canada ( )
7. Miscellaneous Information: Any other information deemed relevant at this stage of the bidding process (eg. operational/major exercise deployment/recovery dates, other major cts which might drive availability for sailing legs, etc):