For those who are interested,

Royal Regiment of Scotland opens new chapter for the army
28 Mar 06
The Royal Regiment of Scotland has officially formed today Tuesday, 28 March 2006. The event was marked by parades all over the world where Scottish soldiers are based.


March on the future; The new headdress of the Royal Regiment of Scotland waits to be presented to soldiers from the regiment as they march on to Crown Square in Edinburgh Castle.

In Scotland, the main parade took place in the Crown Square at Edinburgh Castle. The event will consist of a re-badging ceremony, during which the Regiment's most senior officer, Major General Euan Loudon, The General Officer Commanding The Army in Scotland and The North of England and the Governor of Edinburgh Castle, presented representatives from the battalions which make up the new Regiment, with their new head dress.

Those on parade were drawn from the six Regular Army and two Territorial Army Battalions of the Regiment, as well as four members of the affiliated Army Cadet Force.

Other Formation Parades which took place around the world included The Royal Scots in Shaibah and Baghdad, Iraq; The Kings Own Scottish Borderers in Omagh, Northern Ireland; The Royal Highland Fusiliers in Episkopi, Cyprus; The Black Watch in Holywood, Northern Ireland; The Highlanders in Basra and Al Amarah, Iraq and The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Canterbury.

In addition Territorial Army units around Scotland will hold their own re-badging ceremonies at their respective TA Centres, on their drill nights on and immediately after 28th March. The most senior Scottish Officer in each location will present the new head dress at these parades.

Addressing the assembled crowd Major General Loudon said:

"On this day we are turning over a new chapter in the story of the Scottish soldier. Today, we are raising a new Regiment consisting of six Regular and two Territorial battalions and in August the number of our regular battalions reduces to five.

"Change may be painful but it has come to visit us in our day and generation and it follows on from a remarkable record of service in the antecedent Regiments. This new Regiment of ours will take time to establish its own personality but those of us who have experienced change before know that it will do so with rightly placed confidence.


The Royal Regiment of Scotland

"I have, throughout this process of preparing for change, tried to keep people focussed on four key issues. Namely, we must fight for and secure the best possible roles for our Scottish battalions that the Army has to offer; we must raise our game on recruiting and manning; we need to meet peoples’ expectations about choice, opportunity and stability as the Arms Plot ceases; and we must understand and honour the notion of ‘the golden thread’.

"What we are not going to do as we move forward into this new era is create an amorphous mass, abandon the regimental system or see these changes in terms of winners and losers. We all come to Crown Square today outside this ancient Royal Palace with memories, either of very little organisational change in the last 40 years or, in some cases, multiple changes. Memories are very useful, they tell us who we were, who we are and, looking to the future, who we might be. And it is to the future that we must now look.

"Today in Basra, Cyprus, Belfast, Al Amarah, Canterbury, Glasgow, Perth, Edinburgh and elsewhere our soldiers will put this new capbadge into their bonnets.

"Yesterday I received a message from the Chief of the General Staff which read: 'On the occasion of the Formation of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, may I, on behalf of the Army Board send you all our very best wishes on the Formation of your new Regiment. Each of your antecedent Regiments brings with it many years of loyal and distinguished service to Crown and country and I am certain that the Royal Regiment of Scotland will shine as a beacon of excellence and devotion to duty in the years to come."

Source: MOD

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A sad, sad day....................................