In this edition of Ranger…

……we welcome ESRI as our new sponsor. As a leading GIS company and major supplier to the Defence industry it is most appropriate that the Association has developed a relationship with ESRI that spans both sides of the Atlantic.

Leading this issue are articles reporting events that commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Army Survey Course. Once again the DSA has commissioned jointly with the Corps of Royal Engineers a commemorative silver centrepiece that will for years to come grace the table at Mess dinner nights and bring to the attention of diners the longevity of high-level geospatial training for officers. The provider of that training, the Royal School of Military Survey, now plays on an even wider field as it is now part of the Defence College Of Intelligence. College Director, Captain Phil Burrell RN, in his article describes the college and explains where the School now sits within it and the broader remit that it now enjoys.

We are all aware that things are constantly changing in today’s Armed Forces and an excellent article by Richard Blunt, the chief of staff at Hermitage, illustrates just how much and how fast these changes are happening.

The regular Geo People feature this time highlights those veryspecial people who have reached the top of their professional tree and generally make units function smoothly and efficiently – the senior warrant officers of the Royal Navy HM speciality, Royal Engineers Geographic and the RAF’s Aeronautical Information Documents Unit. Each of these officers brings over 20 years of experience and wisdom to the daily running of their organisation and provides valuable advice to their commanding officers. The Association wishes them well in their future careers whether as commissioned officers or civilians.

Ranger always includes items of an historical nature and in this issue we continue to document the story of sound ranging during the Second World War with Jim Whetton’s in-depth look at the 4th Survey Regiment RA and its founding commanding officer. This article and several previously published in Ranger, together with Max Mangilli-Climpson’s masterpiece and Peter Chasseaud’s Artillery’s Astrologers provides Gunner Survey with an extremely well documented history, something that RE Survey still lacks but is being addressed at the moment by the DSA Council.

A second historical piece deals with a small aspect of Military Survey’s role in the Cold War, a period that now seems remote and alien as local supermarkets stock Polish food, Russian oligarchs own English football teams and students from former Warsaw Pact countries attend the Army Survey Course. Enjoy a good read over the summer break.

Alan Gordon

For on-line access to this edition of Ranger click here.