1 Regimental Secretary HEADQUARTERS SMALL ARMS SCHOOL ...

Regimental Secretary
HEADQUARTERS SMALL ARMS SCHOOL CORPS
Land Warfare Centre, WARMINSTER, Wiltshire BA12 0DJ
Telephone 01985 222487 Military 94381 2487
Fax 01985 222972 Fax 94381 2972
E-Mail (1) DINF-SASC-REGSEC-SO2
E-Mail (2) Norman.Benson310@mod.uk
Reference: RS/3/8/1
See Distribution Date: 12 August 2010
MINUTES OF THE 64th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE SMALL ARMS SCHOOL
CORPS COMRADES ASSOCIATION HELD AT WARMINSTER ON SATURDAY 24 th
JULY 2010
Present
Lt Col W Paterson
WO1 A Owen
Maj (Retd) N Benson
CO SASC
RSM SASC
Regtl Sec SASC
Chairman
Secretary
In Attendance
There were 80 Members in
attendance
ITEM 1 - WELCOME
1. 1. Lt Col Paterson welcomed everyone present and then asked the Regimental
Secretary to comment on Item 2. Apologies for Absence.
Chairman
ITEM 2 – APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2. The Secretary stated that he has a list of the apologies and best wishes received
from the Association members. There are a few copies of the list on your seats and there
was one on the notice board outside. He would not be reading them out, if however
anyone would like to see the list, please see Regimental Secretary afterwards.
Secretary
ITEM 3 – MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
3. The Minutes of the 63rd Meeting that was held on Sat 20 th July 08 were
approved as read.
Proposed by:
Seconded by
Carried
Maj Redding
Capt Hanson
ITEM 4 - MATTERS ARISING FROM THE LAST MEETING
4. There were no matters outstanding or arising from the last meeting.
Chairman
ITEM 5 - LOYAL GREETINGS
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5. The Secretary explained a message was send to HM The Queen on behalf of
the Comrades Association informing her of the 64th Meeting and he had received
correspondence from Her Majesty and it reads as follows: “Please convey to all members
of The Comrades Association of the Small Arms School, assembled at Warminster for
their 64th t Annual Reunion and Annual General Meeting, my warm thanks for their
message of loyal greetings. I much appreciate your kind words and, in return, send my
best wishes for a most successful and enjoyable gathering”. ELIZABETH R.
Secretary
6. A Loyal Greeting was also sent to our Col-in-Chief, HRH The Duke of York and
he had received correspondence from the Colonel in Chief, and it is as follows: “I much
appreciated the message of loyal greetings sent from you on behalf of all those attending
the Comrades Association of the Small Arms School Corps at Warminster for their 64 th
Annual General Meeting, 0n 24 th July, 2010. I hope that all those present have a
memorable and highly enjoyable reunion.” HRH The Duke of York KG.
ITEM 6 - CORPS UPDATE
7. The CO SASC, Lt Col Paterson explained the Corps strength as at 30 Jun 10
was 166, this included the 6 SASC (V) and 5 LSL/NRPS. 12 new members have joined
the Corps since the last AGM. Recruiting is buoyant and the Sep 2010 Candidate Course
will start with 13, there is only one course per year as we cannot exceed the manning
levels. Posts lost are the SO3 DOSG when Capt O’Connor finishes his tour and the
Range WO post in Cyprus when QMSI Dunn finishes his tour. There is a new post which
is the SO2 Operational Shooting, however we will need to provide a compensating
reduction. Work is in progress to achieve that and the CO stated he is now the SO1
Operational Shooting. As far as Brigade posts are concerned there is a Capt and QMSI
with 16 Air Assault Bde and a QMSI with 20 Bde, next year 20114 Bde and 12 Bde will
each get a QMSI. He further explained only last week 7 Armd Bde requested a QMSI
and also 1 Scots Guards. With Infantry Battalions 5 RIFLES and 3 Mercian both have a
QMSI and there is an intent to try and provide all Inf Bns with a QMSI. Operational Tours
at present are Capt Marr and QMSI Guerin who is handing over to QMSI Pattison, 3
posts with UK LTT Kabul, a WO2, SSgt and a Sgt. We are also in discussion with
Glasgow reference a 6 month tour as CSM Security Development Programme in
Pakistan. Overall the Operational Tours are in good shape.
ITEM 7 - CORPS SHOOTING
CO SASC
RSM SASC
8. The Chairman introduced item 7.
9. General. The Corps RSM informed those present that due to course
commitments and the pace of work in Infantry Weapons Division Ex Tiere D’Elite did
not take place in 2010 and is unlikely in the near future as the SOTR is full. As a result
the SASC only shot in the Methuen Cup competition on 8 July 10 resulting in no-one
being placed in the Army 100.
10. Methuen 2010. The Methuen Cup team were drawn from across the Corps
after a traumatic trawl!
a. They were;
i. WO1 Robinson – RMAS (Capt).
ii. WO2 Milton – RMAS.
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iii. SSgt Stewart – OPTAG.
iv. SSgt Trainner – OPTAG.
v. SSgt Graham-Blackett – TAG(G).
vi. Sgt Gurung – IWD.
b. The team practised on Sandhurst ranges the week prior to the
competition and were assisted by WO1 Kerr from OSTT and WO1 Grant from
ASLS doing his Jedi mind tricks!
c. In recent years the highest placing of the Methuen Teams has been
11 th however the 2010 Methuen Team scored 1258 and were placed 7 th
overall from 21 teams that entered.
d. The winner of the Hale Trophy was SSgt Stewart with a score of 220.
e. No other Corps silverware was presented as there were no firers in
the remainder of the AOSC.
ITEM 8 - FINANCE
Secretary
11. SASC Fund. The Secretary stated that a current 1514 was on some of the
seats and a copy was on the notice board outside and he would be using these figures
in his brief. He then explained the statistics as follows:
a. Main Sources of Income.
Subscriptions £16,979139.38
CB interest £219
Investment – Unrealised loss £9006
Dividend Income £2469
Advertising in the Journal
Donations to the Fund £218
Total Income £35,878
b. Main Sources of Expenditure.
Grants and Donations £3643
ABF - £1500
Welfare – £10591 which is an increase of £7651.
c. Presentations.
£1945 an increase of £741.
d. Accumulated General Purpose Fund.
£118,120 an increase of £4682
£0, however Riflecraft have still to pay
£325.00 for last year.
The main components of the AGPF are:
Cash in Bank £29,225.87
Shop Stock £20,900.18
Investments £72,481 (Unrealised gain of £9006)
e. Investments.
In accordance with the constitution, it is the OIC of the fund’s duty & policy to
invest to increase the investments to protect the longevity of the fund.
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The net working capital, less liabilities is just less than £48k, take out the shop
stock and just over 56% of the NWC is sat in the bank
(£27069) There was no investment made last year the and it is recommended
not to invest anything this year in the present climate.
12 The Secretary went on to say he is pleased to announce that the fund is in
good shape, the shop is going steady with sales of £3929 last year and a percentage
profit of 6.28%. He also mentioned there are still some commemorative tankards,
plates and prints left and there are now braces available. The meeting was reminded
that the SASC receives support from the ABF and normally £1500 is donated from thje
fund to the ABF He would therefore like a proposer and seconder to agree to donate
£1500 again this year.
Proposed by:
Seconded by:
Carried
Maj Whitchurch
Maj Riddell
13. The Secretary explained it was at this juncture he would be asking for funds to
be voted across to offset the cost of the five Corps functions in the coming year. This
year the amount needed to be voted across has increased by £600 and the total
needed to cover all 5 functions this year is £6000. The Secretary asked for a proposer
and seconder for the amount of £6000.00 to be voted across to offset the cost of the 5
Corps functions in the coming year.
Proposed by:
Seconded by:
Carried
Capt Ronan
Maj Buffey
14. Points to note since the audit in February:
Purchase of the stone plaque for the church which is positioned beneath the Corps
window between £400 and £500.
17. Weapons Collection Fund. The Fund Manager apologised for not having a
F1514 for the Fund as it had been audited at the end of April and was still not
complete. He did however brief the meeting using the monthly statement for Mar 10
the reason being the introduction of the software at the RAO, Paxton Plus. The figures
on the left relate to the last audit which was on 30 Apr 09.
Secretary
Main sources of income are as follows.
Donations £1381, a decrease of £528.
Sales of weapons and Equipment £2510, an increase of £2410.
Research charges £1455, an increase of £1305.
CB interest: £150, a decrease of £424.
Investment: as at 30 Apr 10 £2191, an increase of £1557.
Dividend income: £1034, an increase of £87.
Total income £6531, an increase of £2850.
The main expenditure items for the Weapons Collection are as follows.
Open Day 2009
£551 for lunch.
Set of Steps £60.
Janes Infantry Weapons £466.
Travel Expenses £75.
Safety catch for FG42 £30
The Making of the British Army (Book) £21
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Electric Drill £63
Property depreciation
£3106 (Audio and Video Entry System).
AGPF £51.771.
The main components are:
Cash in bank £22,347, an increase of £
Investments £21,450.
Total fixed assets £29,424.23, a decrease of £3740.66.
The Secretary said that the fund is still in good shape with over £22k in the bank, so there
is enough to cover any immediate needs.
ITEM 9 - THE WEAPONS COLLECTION
Secretary
18. Acquisitions and Disposals. The OIC briefed the meeting that during the
past year 25 weapons and ancillaries were brought onto the books and 20 items were
disposed of. The acquisitions were carried out thanks to agencies such as DCMT
Shrivenham, RMP SIB, ITDU, Anti-tank Division, Primetake and Bill Morris. As always
more weapons mostly modern European/NATO weapons are needed.
19. Visitors. The number of visitors for the period Jul 09 to Jul 10 is 1536, this is
an increase on last year of 205 and is broken down as follows:
Jul 08 – Jul 09 Jul 09 – Jul 10
Military/TA 402 335
Cadets/POs 391 372
UK Gov/MOD 35 32
Civilians 409 608
SASC Candidates 10 41
Foreigners 84 148
Demo/LFs 0 0
The civilian numbers have increased this year, partly due to the Open Day making more
groups/clubs aware of the Collection, however military numbers are down by 67.
20. Trustees. There are now eight Trustees with the maximum being nine so we
are still recruiting.
21. Improvements in the Weapons Room. The display cards are being revamped
throughout the Collection, and that is being taken on by Maj (Retd) Garth Brocksopp.
ITEM 10
THE PRIZE DRAW
Secretary
22. The Chairman introduced the Prize Draw and handed over proceedings to the
Secretary. He reminded everyone of the purpose of the sale of these tickets is to fund
good causes and the price has remained at £1 per ticket resulting this year in sales of
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540.
Retired members contributed £250.
Serving members bought £290.
Prize money this year is £432 (80%), (£200 Retired and £232 Serving) The tickets
were drawn by the RSM and a retired member.
Retired members first ticket will win
Second ticket will win
Serving members first ticket will win
Second ticket will win
£120.00 - Won by Bob Hutchings
£80.00 - Won by John Conway
£139.00 - Won by WO2 Sullivan
£93.00 - Won by WO2 Snell
Winners are to see the Secretary afterwards to receive your cash prize and sign a
receipt.
ITEM 11 – ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Chairman
23. The RSM
ITEM 12 – ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE NEXT MEETING
Chairman
28. The Reg Secretary explained that the date for the next meeting was to be
confirmed as it depended on the usual variants, firm details to follow.
29. The Comdt ended by thanking everyone for coming, and the meeting wound
up at 1931hrs.
Chairman
(Signed Original)
N Benson
Maj (Retd)
Regimental Secretary
Annex:
A. SASC AGM – Apologies and Regrets.
Distribution:
Col Comdt SASC
SASC Comrades Association Worldwide
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Copy to:
Comdt SASC*
CI SASC*
Adjt SASC*
RSM SASC*
File
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