Discussions held between the C.O. of 2/14th QMI Lt Col Mark Welburn and the Association.

On Wednesday the President, Vice President, and I travelled to Gaythorne RS&L to meet with the C.O. Lt. Col. Mark Welburn and RSM Laurie of the 2/14^th Queensland Mounted Infantry.

Following the initial greetings we discussed the reason for the visit that Rick had arranged and put forward how we thought we could be of service to the Regiment in their time of deployment.

We showed a couple of care boxes that we had packed for the men from B Sqn to highlight the types of items that we were sending. We also explained the “Cavalry” website and the modifications that are currently underway, something that Mark saw as a useful vehicle for communicating as well as disseminating information to those back here.

Discussions were also held regarding the need for contact names and email address’ both here as well as in country as well as a new contact within the mail sorting centre over there.

Mark asked for our timing for the delivery of beanies to Enoggera which we will advise within the next few days following an update from all as to the availability of completed beanies, as he appears keen and eager to keep things moving along.

JW and I will make contact when we know the situation with the beanies and will make a delivery ASAP, I will correspond with Mark confirming details and requesting the contact details that we require so as to have regular contact with all.

I must say that I was heartened by the mood at today’s meeting with Mark who comes across as a young technology savvy person who sees the advantages of having support and communication for the troops. He sat forward in his seat and listened intently to all that was said, taking notes during the discussions and requesting more details as well as follow up actions. This in comparison to the previous dealings with the 2/14th are like chalk and cheese and whatever happened in the past between the Association and 2/14^th should be left in the past. Marks attitude and demeanor gave the appearance that the Regiment was “UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT”

I must stress though that this is an opportunity for this Association to make inroads into the 2/14^th and this is going to take planning and a coordinated effort by all committee members as well as some others if we are to make this work, this must not be left to the few as we need to keep the larder stocked with goodies at all times which is a full time job on its own. We should be looking at sending 15 to 20 care boxes per fortnight which would mean a total of 390 to 520 packages over the 12 months. Each of the packages to date have included on average 10 items including noodles, magazines, lollies, beanies for the winter and ?? for the summer, playing cards, puzzle books, biscuits, pasta, chips, socks, razors, pop corn, hot drink sachet and fruit cake. This is a commitment for the next 12 months as far as assisting those on deployment with packages or whatever their needs may be.

Should we agree to support 2/14^th changes need to be made to accommodate them within one of our websites. This would involve the modification and increased monitoring of the CAVALRY website to accommodate the 2/14^th, to find material for the site and to encourage them to utilize this resource. This is not an insurmountable task and I could manage it, the only thing that I would say is that it lessons slightly the amount that I can do in other areas. The website should reach a point when the quantity and quality of traffic will create its own momentum and it will run itself only needing moderating thus reducing the need to find filler pieces and to initiate the threads within topics, this is something that has failed to happen on the 3/4 Cav website to date.

Please have a think about what I have written as I believe we need to be clear as to what our involvement will be, of course it would be great to assist all Cavalry units but not at the risk of failing to look after our own Sqn first.

Whatever we decide to do it needs to be communicated to the 2/14^th so we do not over commit ourselves or leave them to think we can offer more than is possible as we are a small ESO with big ambitions and an even bigger heart.

Cheers

John

"Resolute"