DIGEST

DSG Bastion
News
from
DSG
Bastion
L-R, Dave Evans with his son Gareth
In the August issue of Digest, Daz
Dalzell, General Manager highlighted
the efforts of the various teams in
DSG Bastion.
In this issue he talks about the shop floor’s
recent re-organisation into three dedicated
teams, structured to support the ever
changing demand. The repair teams provide
support to Regeneration, Redeployment and
Base Intelligence Surveillance Target
Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR)
platforms; they are most importantly at the
hub of support to our troops in Helmand,
Afghanistan.
TEAM 1 – HEAVY B VEHICLES AND
ELECTRONIC REPAIR
Team 1 is led by Senior Production manager,
Davy Kerr from Stirling. The team includes
a number of repair teams and specialist
tradesmen including the Bowman and
Electronic repair section, and armourers and
welders. Giving an update on what the
team has been up to over the past three
months he said, “The CAT Generator team
is now entering a transitional period, moving
from the aptly named Forward Operating
Base Bastion to the Dutch barns within the
main DSG site. The emphasis is now to
move into a phase where generators are
removed from the generator farms around
Bastion for inspection, servicing and
preventative maintenance. The MAN team
managed by Alistair Ferguson, from
Catterick, has had a challenging time in July
and August with the late delivery of
Regeneration platforms. To fill the void they
have taken on the Regeneration of a
number of other platforms including the
repair of nine Fuel Dispensing Racks and to
their credit managed to keep the repairs
within the specified target dates. Our team
of ADR specialists were particularly busy
completing 12 de-gasses as well as
numerous ADR1 (932E) inspections. The
Bowman team was very busy getting used
to the variety of platforms they are testing
and more recently they completed their
first Warrior Armoured Protection Carrier,
which for a period proved to be very
troublesome. The Calibration lab
completed approximately 200 jobs in
August, with the Deployed Level 4
Equipment Support completing 20 repairs
on a variety of BASE ISTAR assets whilst
supporting maintenance and repair on
Rodet. Finally, it’s also been busy for the
armourers and welders with 20 platforms
going through the workshop in August
requiring inspection and repairs. Charlie
McCormick, from Stirling, and Jim
McClarnon, from Bovington, remain busy
with the usual repair of panels and bar
armour, with their ingenuity never failing to
surprise.”
TEAMS 2 AND 3 – PROTECTED
MOBILITY
Protected Mobility is split into two teams,
Team 2 works on Mastiff, Wolfhound and
Ridgback while Team 3 looks after Husky
and Protected Plant. Kevin Philliben, Senior
Production manager from Stirling leads both
teams with assistance from his two
seasoned Team leaders; Neil McColl,
L-R, Dave Parry receiving a Commanding
Officers Coin from Lt Col Stefan Crossfield,
Commanding Officer Equipment
Support Group
another Stirling deployee, and Kevin
Dominey, from Longmoor, who are both
carrying out their second tour in
Afghanistan and bring with them a wide
range of experience and knowledge to the
operation.
The Team leaders have the backing of a very
talented and diverse team who continue to
show their flexibility and willingness to
achieve targets set by our customer and
often, off their own back, work extended
hours as and when required. As a result the
team has built up a very close working
relationship with the Military customer;
working together to meet tight deadlines
and overcoming various issues. The Husky
platform caused many challenges for the
team but undeterred, they tackled them
head on resulting in a successful resolution
thanks to the expertise built up within the
team. It speaks volumes when the Military
customer constantly asks the team for help
and guidance on the platform.
The recent introduction of the
Regeneration to Redeployment (R2)
process has set a new challenge for the
team. The process involves the internal and
external deep cleaning of all R2R platforms
and fully updating of the JAMES system in
R-L, Mike Fletcher receiving a
Commanding Officers Coin
from Lt Col Stefan Crossfield
4
DIGEST October/November 2013 www.dsg.mod.uk

news
readiness for the platforms return to the
UK. Again the team has shown flexibility,
working unsocial hours to complete the
task.
Overall the PM team has made a very good
impression with the military customer and
their knowledge of the platforms results in a
constant flow of guys and girls in green
asking for our assistance with everything
from bulbs and bolts to obscure electrical
faults and the locating of NATO part
numbers from publications. If you fancy a
challenge why not come and join the PM
team in Bastion; you will definitely be at the
forefront of an operation in support of our
troops, which provides excitement, technical
challenges, and most of all first hand
engagement with the military customer as
well as providing a high degree of job
satisfaction!
Dave Evans, from Sennybridge, and a
seasoned member of the Mastiff team is
enjoying the company of his son Gareth
who is in Camp Bastion serving with the
Army Air Corps. Both Dave and Gareth are
keen members of the DSG quiz team and
participate in the weekly Friday night quiz,
unfortunately so far they have been
unsuccessful, although a close second place
was achieved.
Daz Dalzell concludes, “The enthusiasm and
commitment from individuals never ceases
to amaze me and over the past few weeks
two individuals have been singled out to
receive praise from the operational
Commander. Dave Parry, from Sealand, and
KBR employee, Mike Fletcher, both received
the Commanding Officers Coin, from Lt Col
Stefan Crossfield, Commanding Officer
Equipment Support Group. The award
recognises exceptional work in support of
the operation. Dave works in the Royal
Logistic Corp Stores Section providing
materiel support to all deployed units. Mike
Fletcher, a KBR employee working for DSG
Bastion, received the award in recognition of
all the hard work he put in on the recent
Logistic Support Inspection for which DSG
Bastion received an outstanding report.”
HR is changing…
Jane Williams, HR Director
introduces the changes
happening in HR across DSG.
Here she talks to Digest “Most of you
will have had some contact with
Personnel in your time in DSG, but
behind the scenes, we are working to
modernise the function in line with what
is happening elsewhere in Government,
and I am writing now to share the
introduction of the updated HR function
we launched by the time this article
appears.
“Since I joined DSG last year, I was keen
to introduce a “one DSG one HR”
approach to our people function, rather
than the site based service we provided.
I see that meaning that HR will work in
partnership with the Business and
alongside managers to resolve
operational problems, rather than
provide the personnel administration
service we did previously.
“I am going to do this by positioning a
dedicated HR Business Partner (HRBP)
team at the heart of the function,
supported by Change and HR
Programme, and HR Policy and Learning
and Development teams, all of which
will report directly to me. Newly
recruited Mark Eden will take on the
senior HRBP role, and joins DSG from
wider MOD and Karen Owens has
already started as the Head of Change
and HR Programme. At the time of
going to press, recruitment action is
continuing to resource the remainder of
the team.
“But I also know that a lot of what was
done in personnel teams has been of
value to the business, so while I may not
see maintenance of Clockwise for
example, as an HR activity, I realise it has
to be done somewhere in the business.
So to establish what needs to be done
where, I also have another piece of
work running to review all the support
activities, which are currently done in
HR to see if there are activities that we
can streamline.”
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
FOR YOU?
Jane continues, “To start with probably
not a great deal will be different for
colleagues in the business, as there will
still be a Business Support presence on
each site, but I expect managers to see
the real difference in HR as we work
alongside you rather than as keepers of
the rule book. But you will see a lot
more of Mark and his team from
October as his role is very much around
taking HR to the business, but we are all
committed to making this work, so
expect to see more of HR than perhaps
you have in the past – travel and
subsistence budgets permitting!
“I know I can’t yet tell you the full story
around the evolving HR plot in this
article, but intend to keep you updated
about developments through future
HRD Notices and Digest articles.”
www.dsg.mod.uk October/November 2013 DIGEST
5

sale of DSG
Update on the
sale of DSG
In this edition of Digest, Kate Carr
from MOD’s DSG Sale team gives
us an update on the sale.
Since my last article, work on the
project has been overshadowed by the
sudden and unexpected death of Ian
French. Ian worked in the Business,
Strategy and Governance team since its
inception and before that he managed
Head Office’s relationship with the DSG
Trading Fund almost since formation.
It’s apparent that Ian was highly
regarded by all who came across him.
He not only brought an immense
amount of knowledge, integrity and
common sense to the job; much more
importantly than that, those of us who
knew him, across MOD Head Office,
Defence Equipment and Support
(DE&S) and DSG were glad to work
with him and came to count him not
just a colleague but a friend. He is sadly
missed by all of us and our thoughts are
with his family at this time.
Despite this tragic news, work
continues on the sale project. In my
previous article I mentioned we began a
more formal market engagement
exercise to build on the one held last
year. Around 20 companies asked to
participate and Lazard, our lead advisers,
met with all of these companies. They
covered all sectors of the market,
meaning we were able to explore the
sale with equipment manufacturers,
service providers, and even finance
firms. It was a two way process. Lazard
set out our assumptions of how the sale
might be structured and managed to get
a sense of how the market might react.
It was also an opportunity for industry
to tell us what they thought and we
received some useful information from
them. We will now reflect on that and
consider whether to revisit one or two
of our assumptions in order to make
sure we get the most out of the
process, both in terms of value for DSG
and certainty for the Army in the
continued delivery of DSG services.
Put together, we are now gathering the
views on how DSG should be
presented to the market and using it to
shape our final thinking on how to
shape the DSG sale transaction. One
thing these meetings have reinforced is
that our thinking that the Electronic
Components Business Unit should
remain out of scope of the sale looks
right, although any final decision still
needs to be tested in a business case
and is subject to MOD investment
committee and Ministerial approval.
Overall, the market engagement process
was very successful and the outcome is
proving useful in determining how we
proceed with the sale.
Over the next few months we will
formalise the business case and
investment appraisal that will go to
Ministers in the autumn. The DSG sale
is designated a “Category A” project,
which is reserved for the highest value
or business critical projects. The
evidence required in these types of
business case is very high, and we will
draw on all of the work carried out so
far and some of which has been
covered in these pages. The business
case is rigorously and independently
“
Overall, the
market
engagement
process was very
successful and the
outcome is proving
useful in
determining how
we proceed with
the sale.
”
tested, and will focus not just on the
potential value of DSG but also the
future cost the front line might have to
pay for DSG services, our strategies for
dealing with Intellectual Property, terms
and conditions of employment, and
pensions, and whether the Armed
Forces will have the continuity of
service which is so important to them.
The evidence will have to amount to a
case that satisfies ourselves, MOD’s
most senior officials and Ministers that
a sale is viable. If it does we will move
towards actually starting the sale
process towards the end of the year.
Although not long, it still leaves an awful
lot of work to be done by the teams
across DE&S, Army and Head Office.
Our engagement with DSG Trade
Unions also continues, of course, and as
I write our next meeting is planned in a
few days time.
CONTACTS IN THE DSG SALE TEAM:
Mark Crabtree: mark.crabtree390@mod.uk
Kate Carr: kate.carr442@mod.uk
6
DIGEST October/November 2013 www.dsg.mod.uk

news
Civil Service people survey 2013
This is your opportunity to give your views about your role in
DSG and the organisation. It is completely confidential
whether completed on-line or by paper copy.
Your views are important and will make a difference.
“I cannot emphasise enough the importance of the survey. It’s your opportunity to
voice your concerns and opinions and help us to understand what is working well
and where we need to improve.
“This year’s positive results clearly show we are taking action from the last survey.
However, we need to keep up the momentum and continue to drive improvements
with tangible benefits in our working practices and deliver what we promise.”
Archie Hughes, DSG Chief Executive
Paper form must be completed by Wednesday 16 October
or complete on-line form by Thursday 31 October
Certification
success for
additional DSG sites
DSG Ashchurch recently achieved Quality Management System Standard ISO
9001:2008, while DSG Land Supply and Stafford achieved certification in both the Environmental
Management System Standard ISO 14001:2004 and the Health and Safety Management System Standard
OHSAS 18001:2007.
LRQA auditors commented on the clear intention of the Ashchurch team to continually deliver improvements and the
numerous activities in progress, which enabled the site to gain ISO 9001:2008 approval.
LRQA’s final report on the Environmental and Health and Safety Management Systems assessment highlighted the significant
improvement in the compliance culture over the last 12 months at Stafford, and Land Supply’s evident demonstration of
meeting and exceeding customer, employee and stakeholder expectation in relation to their Environmental and Health and
Safety Management Systems.
Steve Martin, Head of Compliance said, “These additional certifications adds to the existing schedule of certifications already
held by DSG which demonstrates our commitment to the importance of a robust management system to manage and
harmonise policies and procedures in the business. This ensures we satisfy the needs of our customers and improve the
services we provide. Maintenance of our existing approvals and the achievement of these additional certifications are due to
the hard work and determination of everyone involved. They have my thanks and congratulations for all their efforts.”
www.dsg.mod.uk October/November 2013 DIGEST
7

news
Business
Stream 1
In this Digest feature we showcase
the exceptional capabilities of the
various sites that make up DSG
which completes our ever
increasing capabilities offering to
provide an end-to-end support to
the equipment life cycle to our
Armed Forces customer.
DSG structures its sites into three
streams. This particular feature focuses
on Business Stream 1 (BS1) which is
based on the Donnington site. It is the
largest DSG site with approximately 620
employees working on various platforms
including light and medium armoured
vehicles such as Warrior, CVR(T), BV206
and a portfolio of over 160 other
product lines.
DSG Donnington has the in-house
capability to deliver a wide range of
services from assembly repair services to
upgrading platforms, general engineering
support, carpentry and textile repair.
DSG strives to deliver best value for
Defence and introduced a number of
transformation programmes including
Operational Excellence to improve
efficiency and this is clearly evident in
Donnington. Over the years the site has
L-R, Gill Cherry, HR manager with Pete
Williams rebuilding an SA80 as part of
Donnington’s back to the shop floor
programme in response to feedback
from the CSPS results
undergone various
transformations to
improve its
processes,
investing not only
in equipment but
also training. The
site strips down
platforms to every
last nut and bolt
and then
meticulously
repairs and
rebuilds them. The
introduction of a
pulse line in the
vehicle strip
section made a
significant
improvement to
the depth repair
programme carried
out on Armoured
Vehicles. The employees embraced the
positive effect, which includes the control
and throughput of vehicles, improved
working environment and health and
safety conditions. Adoption of new
methods of working including strip,
survey and stop have led to managers
and team leaders gaining greater control
by understanding what is required for the
job, visibility of hours booked and better,
tighter controls on material. It is
anticipated that the improvement will
help deliver the Warrior Capability
Sustainment Programme (WCSP), where
working with Lockheed Martin (UK),
DSG will align base overhaul with a
major upgrade programme. For now the
site is working with Lockheed Martin
designers and engineers on the
prototype in the modification of the
turret and hull and assembly of the test
vehicle, with the possibility of upgrading
further development vehicles and
involvement in the programme when in
production.
The site also evaluated the processes and
procedures in its Light Weapons
workshop. The adoption of lean
Donnington pulse line
principles saw significant improvements,
with throughput time on one particular
line dropping from ten days to four days
and the available capacity more than
doubling.
Other significant investments include the
provision of a new Ultra High Pressure
(UHP) wash facility. The site acquired
two new buildings to accommodate the
in-house wash and UHP facilities. The
investment provides a modern facility
equipped with a new UHP unit operating
at a lower pressure therefore reducing
health and safety risks to the operators
whilst still achieving efficient turn-around
times.
An important internal resource in
Donnington is the work of the Tech
Services team. The team formed from
amalgamating several different business
functions to provide a more centred and
structured approach to technical
engineering support and technical
solutions. They are the first point of
contact to provide the appropriate and
most up to date approved source
information to deliver the services the
technicians require on the shop floor.
8
DIGEST October/November 2013 www.dsg.mod.uk

news
Before – The Light Weapons workshop before the
transformation journey
After – Improvements to the Light Weapons workshop
after adopting lean principles
Initially acting as a data capture team,
Tech Services successfully supported the
introduction of Baan into the business
stream by creating and managing routes
and bills of materials ready for the switch
over from the old system in November
2010.
Since cutover the department has vastly
widened the scope of support it provides
including Equipment Lifecycle Support,
Engineering Change and Document
Control, New Service Provision services,
direct project support and local
manufacture to name but a few. It has
built on its initial success by working
closely with operations and other
support functions to optimise the flow of
work through the business.
At the heart of Donnington and all the
various DSG sites are our people. Their
skill and expertise make DSG a lean,
forward thinking business with an
impressive pedigree of military
capabilities.
The site has an established Apprentice
Training Centre with an enviable record
of turning-out qualified and skilled
technicians of the highest calibre with
many excelling in MOD’s apprentice
competitions.
In 2012, Donnington recruited four
Supply Chain apprentices and the
business has seen them develop both
their functional and academic skills and
knowledge. This year Donnington
expanded this further to include Finance,
Tech Services and Compliance
apprenticeships who should graduate
into functional experts with recognised
qualifications.
Across DSG, management is taking
actions on feedback from the Civil
Service People Survey. One particular
area employees thought required
improvement in BS1 is ensuring that
people are treated fairly and poor
performance is managed effectively and
consistently across the business stream.
Working closely with line managers,
Donnington implemented Human
Resources (HR) surgeries so that
managers have in place a structured and
confidential forum in which they can
raise any people issues and discuss
suitable courses of action with the HR
team. The advice provided ensures a
consistent approach across the business
stream and any actions are carried out in
a timely manner in accordance with
Policy, Rules and Guidance.
A major benefit is the knowledge and
understanding that lesser experienced
line managers are now able to develop,
particularly from those managers with
more experience, having dealt with many
of the issues before. This in turn
contributes towards the building of a
more proactive culture in which
managers feel comfortable and
understand what is required of them. In
addition, sharing best practice also helps
make sure we adopt a common
approach, letting employees see the
benefits. Following a programme of
education and training, Donnington’s
absence levels are at their lowest ever
level with trigger points closely
monitored and medical advice sought
early on to help people return to the
workplace.
The implementation of the new HR
Business Partner model to introduce a
more modern, strategic, effective and
proactive HR approach is now well
underway with the team looking forward
to their involvement at this exciting time
and continuing to support the business
going forward. In particular, the focus is
developing HR strategies aligned to the
business and delivering training and
development to support employees who
will deliver the capabilities required for
the future success of our business.
“
In particular,
the focus is
developing HR
strategies aligned
to the business and
delivering training
and development to
support employees
who will deliver the
capabilities
required for the
future success of
our business.
”
The new Ultra High Pressure wash facility
www.dsg.mod.uk October/November 2013 DIGEST
9

Quad Bike
11
© Photographer Cpl Si Longworth RLC MOD Crown Copyright 2013

news
Voyage from the
bottom of the sea
DSG Bovington recently completed
the very difficult job of bringing two
Beach Recovery Vehicles (BRV) back
to as good as new standard.
Introduced over a decade ago, there are
only four BRVs in the Army’s fleet. Its
primary use is the immediate recovery,
removal, anchoring to the beach head or
other directed location of stranded or
drowned vehicles and broached or
beached landing craft.
The BRV is a modified Leopard 1 Main
Battle Tank that has primarily had its
turret replaced with a crew compartment
and inlet and exhaust stacks fitted for air
and exhaust services allowing the vehicle
to travel in water up to a depth of almost
three metres. The BRV has three crew
members with recovery achieved by
direct pulling or pushing the casualty.
The first BRV drowned on Saunton Sands
beach after a mechanical failure. Upon
recovery, Royal Marines (RM) Instow
conducted the initial recovery process
including cleaning and draining all
contaminated fluids and carrying out
preventative maintenance to reduce
damage caused by salt water corrosion.
Upon receipt of the vehicle, the DSG
Bovington team; fitters Allun Taylor and
John Burt and vehicle electrician Alan
Chalker began to put the vehicle through
a deep repair pilot study with technical
support provided by Bryan Hobbs, Dave
Hudson and BAE technical support
provided by Andy Ranson.
Four months later a second BRV, which
sank off the coast of North Devon on
exercise due to an over soft sandbank
The complete fleet
was transported to Bovington. With 50%
of the fleet out of service, it was
important that the team progressed with
the vehicle already in the workshop to
enable them to start the strip, rebuild and
test the second.
The deep repair process consisted of
stripping the vehicle down to the bare
hull, inspection, strip and survey of all
components. The hull structure was shot
blasted and non destructive testing
carried out using a dye penetrant
technique, all internal and external
threads repaired and weld repair activity
carried out. A complex aspect of the
work was the paint specification but the
DSG team worked with existing suppliers,
the Project Team (PT) and the original
equipment manufacturers to address the
issues. There were other difficulties with
the supply chain as many of the
manufacturers used in the original build
were no longer in business or supplying
parts due to changes from the original
designs. However, the huge obstacles
were handled successfully and the first
vehicle was completed within a year and
returned to RM Instow for fresh water
and sea water trials before handed back
to the end user.
John Sawyer, DSG Bovington Production
manager said, “This was one of the most
difficult projects I have been involved in.
The team had to overcome so many
hurdles both in procurement and
technical aspects. However, Bovington
and the Land Supply Business Unit
remained committed to delivering a
quality product to our customer. We
have succeeded and received positive
feed back from the end user and our
customer. I would like to take this
opportunity of thanking everyone
involved in the project, they should all be
very proud.”
Once the first vehicle was complete the
team set about repairing the second
vehicle. To avoid delays and issues, Rune
Wanger, a BRV Electrical Design engineer
from Cargo Handling Systems (CHS)
Norway spent a couple of days in
Bovington carrying out electrical
commissioning.
He said, “We at CHS highly appreciate the
excellent work performed on the BRVs
by all BRV team members in DSG
Bovington and Instow. It is nice to know
for us, as BRV designers, that our babies
are being taken so good care of. Keep up
the good work!”
The inspection schedule for the second
vehicle was signed off by the PT and the
vehicle is now reunited with the rest of
the fleet.
The trials team at Instow commented,
Evidence of salt water ingress to fire
suppression control box
Shot blasted hull undergoing NDT
12
DIGEST October/November 2013 www.dsg.mod.uk

news
School children visit
DSG Colchester
Fresh water dip tests
We would just
like to convey our
team’s thanks for
the excellent
co-operation and
professional service
that Bryan Hobbs
and his team have
given us.
“
”
“We would just like to convey our team’s
thanks for the excellent co-operation and
professional service that Bryan Hobbs and
his team have given us. We spent two days
at DSG Bovington to check through the
vehicle and when any help was needed it
was given straight away. This continued
when the DSG team came down to Instow
this week to carry out the deep water
immersion tests.
“After some minor repairs, we were able
to confidently take the vehicle into 2.95m
of seawater, which was the desired result.
The vehicle is of a very good standard, so
again thanks to all those involved in the
long term project.
Hopefully we will have the opportunity to
work together in the future, but not on a
drowned BRV though!”
Bryan Reed, Head of the Bovington
Operating Unit said, “The BRV depth
repairs were challenging to say the least
with two out of the four vehicles in the
Army out of action. This created pressure
in such a short period of time to deliver
results successfully and to the highest
standards. DSG, the PT and supply chain
teams have worked wonders in delivering
back two quality BRVs to the customer.”
Following a successful visit to DSG Colchester a couple of years ago,
Deanes School requested a repeat visit. Andy Hursey, Head of Colchester
Operating Unit welcomed the eager pupils with a short presentation.
After introductions, Phil Puxley, Supply Planner showed the pupils around the
workshop. Assisting Phil were Neil Green, Elliot Harrod and Karen Emery who took
on the role of photographer for the day. As well as looking at the various vehicles on
site, the students sat inside a few of the static vehicles including a Jackal, Vector and
Bulldog 432. A tour of the small arms department gave them the opportunity to see
some small weapons as well as the larger 13 Pounder Gun. The quad bikes quite
naturally generated a lot of interest with the youngsters with many wishing they could
take them out for a ride.
Lunch after the tour was full of smiling faces having animated conversations about the
exciting range of equipment they had seen earlier. To test that the pupils had absorbed
the information during the tour, Phil arranged a little quiz, with very high results,
leading to a tie breaker question to find an overall winner and two runners up. The
results demonstrated a great deal of credit in Phil’s ability to keep the students
interested throughout the day.
John Abrehart and Jacque Buckley from the Deanes School sent a letter of thanks
which read, “Just writing a few words to say a big thank you to yourself, Teresa Hooper,
Paul Lawrence, Phil Puxley, Karen Emery, Pauline Scott, Neil Green and Elliot Harrod
for organising once again an even better visit to your establishment.
“As before we appreciate the amount of preparation and time that you and your team
spent setting up this day. A special thank you must go to Phil, Karen, Neil and Elliot for
their patience, sense of humour and obvious enthusiasm looking after our pupils
particularly as our youngsters seemed more lively than our previous visit.
“Once again, as in the past, you all wanted to be there and to be involved in this visit,
particularly commendable in these uncertain times.”
www.dsg.mod.uk October/November 2013 DIGEST
13

three of the best
Three of the best
Geoff Hill, Bowman manager, Ashchurch
After completing 25 years in the military, Geoff joined DSG Ashchurch as Bowman
Warehouse manager in June 2012 and implemented a complete restructure to the processes
and resources. In July this year he became the Bowman manager responsible for the
management of Bowman assets for Army Headquarters stock, ensuring the end user gets
fully serviceable equipment in a timely manner.
If I could pass any law… I would increase council tax for properties that have off road parking but still insist on parking
several cars and vans all round the roads barely allowing space for public services to get through. All because they have
a caravan that goes out twice a year stuck in the driveway.
When I was a child I wanted to be… a paratrooper. Throughout my child hood it’s all I wanted to be. At the age of 17 and a half I quickly
learned that planes land at the other end and opted to shoot them down instead. After 25 years of travel and several government sponsored
holidays in hot climates…..ambition complete.
The worst gift I ever received was… whilst serving in the Gulf in 1991, I received a green and black, hand knitted warmer for the male
anatomy region. Just what you need at those temperatures is a woollen item against the skin.
My biggest regret… I have very few regrets in my life, maybe to have had leather seats in my Focus sport.
On my last holiday… in Madeira, during a freak gust of wind the woman lying on a sun lounger next to me was nearly impaled by a large sun
umbrella from the far side of the pool and I was more concerned about not spilling my coffee.
Steve Batson, Business Stream 2 Master Planner Scheduler, Bovington
Steve started his MOD career in 1986 as an apprentice vehicle electrician at the Bovington
workshop. On completion, he spent eight years working on heavy armour vehicles before
moving into the technical support department as a project engineer. Since then Steve has
had various roles including Heavy Armour Account manager and is now the Business Stream
2 Master Planner Scheduler.
If I could be anyone else I’d be… ex England Rugby Union Fly Half, Jonny Wilkinson. His determination to succeed and
overcome all the injuries he has had is inspiring. Being rich, famous and having kicked the winning points in the 2003
Rugby World Cup final would be nice too.
The first thing I bought with my first pay… I can't remember so it was probably a pint - and I suspect the second thing was a pint as well!
The best day of my life was… my 40th Birthday. I was in Tenerife for a week with Roz and the rest of the clan. Eating breakfast in the sun,
lying on a beach all day and then we went out for an excellent dinner. It was idyllic and I got loads of presents too.
The last film I saw was… Jack Reacher - One Shot, and for any Reacher fans out there no - Tom Cruise is not Jack Reacher.
Life is… for living not worrying about.
Sean Crockett, Team leader, Brawdy
Sean started a motor trade apprenticeship in 1977. He continued work in the industry before
joining DSG Sennybridge in 2002 as a Vehicle mechanic. In 2006 he took on the role of Team
leader in the newly set up DSG in-barracks equipment support facility at Brawdy.
If I could change anything about myself I would… have focused more on learning the Welsh language. I now think it’s
really important to speak your native tongue fluently, knowing a few words is not really good enough.
I drive a… Peugeot 207 SW Sport. My ideal car is an AUDI A6 3.0 TDI Quattro SE 5 door. German engineering –
brilliant!
If I can, I always try to avoid… dancing. I have two left feet and my wife cringes if I get up to dance, but I do fancy a go at strictly, wife just fell
over laughing.
My favourite place in Britain is… the Pembrokeshire coast line, no matter what time of year. Its changing coastline and weather patterns are
stunning, every time you look at it you see something different.
Most surprising thing that ever happened to me was… the birth of my daughter, Emily, as we didn’t think we could have children. She is now
eleven and has started high school; the years have gone so quickly.
14
DIGEST October/November 2013 www.dsg.mod.uk

news
Back to the
shop floor
Eight from the left, Andy Hursey with the ‘A’ vehicle section team
Stuart Packard at work in the Heavy section
Continuing with DSG’s ongoing
commitment to improve
management’s visibility and
improve communication.
Functional managers from DSG
Colchester and Warminster are
taking part in a series of back to the
shop floor exercises.
Andy Hursey, Head of the Warminster
and Colchester Operating Units, recently
spent the day with the ‘A’ vehicle section.
Frazer Coward, Team leader for the
section took Andy under his wing so that
he could get a real feel for how the Team
leaders function on a daily basis. Andy
said, “I had a very beneficial, interesting,
informative and enjoyable experience. It
certainly opened my eyes to some of the
tooling and business system frustrations
that the guys face on a daily basis.”
Feedback from the shop floor was all
positive and in light of the experience,
Mat Havery, Land Training Fleet Coordination
manager, will follow suit and
spend a day with the Light ‘B’ vehicle
section and Paul Grearson, Production
manager will spend his time in the paint
shop.
Following Andy’s back to the shop floor
day, Chris Reaney, a vehicle fitter from
the shop floor expressed a personal
interest in spending a day with a
Functional manager to get a much wider
view of the manager’s daily business
activities. Chris will shadow Andy
Hursey, with the day to include
attendance at a Sales and Operation
planning forum, allowing him to
experience how Andy prepares for the
Business Stream 2 Senior Management
Review. He will also attend the monthly
Compliance meeting as well as get
involved in other tasks on the day.
At Colchester, Stuart Packard, in
Compliance spent a day on the shop
floor to gain a better understanding of
what it’s like to work in Production.
Stuart said, “I was put to work in the
Heavy section alongside Gary Solomon
and Dave Williams to work on a Bulldog.
“After donning my overalls and boots
and signing off the risk assessments I was
put to work. I am not a vehicle mechanic
by trade but I have worked in a
workshop environment as a sheet metal
worker when I left school. It was an
interesting experience for me to
understand the work the heavy section
faces on a daily basis, working in tight and
confined spaces on the platforms. What
struck me was the close team working
relationship of the guys in the section
and everyone was happy to give me a
hand as I worked on the various tasks. I
would recommend more managers
spend a day back on the shop floor, not
“
I would
recommend more
managers spend a
day back on the
shop floor, not only
have I learnt a lot
more about the
work we do but I
have got to know
more about the
team members in
the section and
hopefully they have
got to know
me as well.
”
only have I learnt a lot more about the
work we do but I have got to know
more about the team members in the
section and hopefully they have got to
know me as well.”
www.dsg.mod.uk October/November 2013 DIGEST
15

news
Developing
in-house talents
As part of the business-wide people
development programme endorsed
by the Chief Executive, Dave
Edmunds, Head of Business Stream 2
(BS 2), has shown his commitment
by putting in place last year a
succession and development plan for
BS2. This enables employees across
BS2 the opportunity to put
themselves forward for selection on
a Development Position programme.
There was healthy interest from the initial
invitation with 27 staff applying. The
senior management team (SMT) provided
support in devising a syllabus and the
successful applicants assigned to a
member of the SMT who will act as a
mentor. The next step is to follow a
managed programme enabling them to
gain an understanding of the different
business areas outside of their current
roles including Commercial, Finance,
Supply Chain, Planning, Technical Services,
HR, Compliance and Production, with a
view to giving them a broader spectrum of
knowledge as their careers progress.
There are currently 6 employees
progressing well with the project while
continuing with their day jobs. Mentoring
Ben Courage is Andy Hursey while Ian
Baker by Keith Pavett, John Holmes by Ann
May, Dave Salthouse by Richard Pissochet,
Leighton Milgate by Steve Davis and Tim
Old by Chris Nicol. The syllabus enables
them to have not only regular structured
reviews with their mentor but Dave
Edmunds has also met with them
individually to review their progress.
Speaking about the project Ben Courage
said, “When Dave Edmunds first informed
BS2 that he was creating a BS2
Development programme, I was very
interested as I am keen to increase my
knowledge within DSG. This also gave me
the opportunity to work in different
functional areas across DSG Warminster.
Fortunately, I secured a place despite the
competition from the many possible
candidates. Upon selection I met my
mentor Andy Hursey, Head of DSG
Warminster and Colchester Operating
Units.
L-R, Dave Edmunds, Head of Business Stream 2 with Ben Courage
“
Ben added, “After my initial meeting with
Andy in December, he helped me with my
plan to establish what I want to achieve
from the programme. I am fortunate that
as I am a part of his weekly Functional
Managers forum, I am able to catch up
with him afterwards, allowing me to
update him on my progress. He in turn
helps and guides me with how I can
overcome any challenges I face.
“I have successfully completed two
Functional Areas and I am appreciative of
the support that I have received from
Andy and the managers of the functional
areas so far. I am looking forward to
visiting the remaining functional areas and
further increase my knowledge and
complete my Development programme in
due course.”
Commenting on the progress of the
scheme, Dave Edmunds said, “I am very
pleased that the first year of the project is
proving successful and due to the amount
of interest it is likely we will continue with
I am looking
forward to visiting
the remaining
functional areas and
further increase my
knowledge and
complete my
Development
programme in due
course.
”
a second tranche of volunteers open to all
BS2 employees from Bands 2 to 4,
including re-application from any
unsuccessful applicants invited to apply
for the second round in December.”
16
DIGEST October/November 2013 www.dsg.mod.uk

news
Roy provides half a
century of support to
military equipment
On 30 August 2013, Roy Williams
retired after completing an
impressive 50 years of loyal service
to DSG. The special day coincided
with Roy's 65th birthday.
A father of two and grandfather to nine,
Colchester born Roy joined DSG, which
was then 36 Command Workshop
REME, in 1963 as a young apprentice.
Throughout his career he has taken on
various roles repairing and upgrading
equipment to support the Armed
Forces, finally concluding in the role of
Equipment Examiner General
Engineering. He was also an Apprentice
Master and helped with mentoring the
new intake of apprentices and was a
Trade Union focal point representative
at the site for over 20 years.
Roy was not only committed to his job
but he also served the local community
by providing 40 years of service to St
John’s Ambulance. He became a serving
Brother of the Order of St John’s in May
1987, which was sanctioned by Her
Majesty the Queen who is the sovereign
of the Order.
To honour his outstanding 50 years
contribution to the Colchester site,
Roy’s work colleagues organised a
surprise presentation with relatives,
friends, past and present colleagues,
intakes from his first year as an
L-R, Andy Hursey presenting Roy
with the big red book
apprentice and his first Apprentice
master attending the event. Andy
Hursey, Head of the Warminster and
Colchester Operating Units delivered
the presentation in the style format of
This Is Your Life, complete with music
and presentation of a big red book. Roy
L-R, Roy with Dave Edmunds and
the commemorative cannon
Roy with colleagues from the past
Roy in the middle with the Heavy Section team
was also presented with gifts including a
watch, a model of a recovery vehicle
made by tinsmith Gavin Humm and a
framed caricature drawn by Gary
Solomons.
The day before the celebration Dave
Edmunds, Head of Business Stream 2,
presented Roy with a commemorative
model cannon made by the apprentices
from Donnington.
Archie Hughes, DSG Chief Executive
said, “Roy’s outstanding service is
exemplary. As an organisation we are
very fortunate in having so many
committed employees like Roy. His
qualities and values deliver better
services for the good of the public and
demonstrate the hard working ethos
across the wider civilian workforce.
Everyone in DSG thanks Roy for all his
support to the site and DSG over the
years and we wish him an enjoyable,
long and healthy retirement.”
www.dsg.mod.uk October/November 2013 DIGEST
17

Across the co
across the country
Operation 8 x Paws update
In the June Digest issue, we reported on Donna
Matthews’, from DSG Donnington, own operation
to get two stray cats, known as C-For and Trevor
back to the UK.
With help from her DSG colleagues, Donna successfully
raised £3500 for the injections and transportation. The
two cats flew 3,500 miles, safely arriving at Manchester
airport on 20 August. C-For is now living with Donna
while Trevor is living in Weymouth with Graham Taylor.
Donna said, “I fell in love with C-For and he lived in my
accommodation during my six months in Bastion. He’s a
cheeky chap and a really great character. He gave me a
bit of normality when I was in Afghanistan.”
She added, “Nowzad is a registered UK charity set up to
relieve the suffering of animals in need of care and
attention, predominantly stray and abandoned dogs, cats
and donkeys in Afghanistan. They do a brilliant job and are
always in need of donations.
“Currently, they have had to move their shelter and are
now working hard to raise the mammoth amount of
£100,000 to support the advance lease, security upgrade,
Donna with C-For and Trevor
provide state of the art clinic facilities for day to day
surgeries and the educational visits of trainee Afghan vets and pay their monthly outgoings. The new facility will provide a
giant leap forward in terms of the service Nowzad is able to provide. Without the secure accommodation the western staff
cannot operate in Afghanistan and therefore there is no Nowzad Dogs’ clinic or shelter.”
If you would like to make donations to Nowzad, please go to http://www.nowzad.com/help-us/donate-now
Long distance
learning success
Matthew Graham
Matthew Graham from DSG Warminster gained a distinction recently
in his BTEC Diploma in Heavy Goods Vehicle Mechanical Engineering
whilst working in DSG Bastion.
Matt achieved this notable qualification with the help and support of past students
and David King, his course lecturer.
Matt said, “David modified the course to enable me to complete it through
distance learning while I was serving in Afghanistan. I am extremely grateful for
the help and support he provided and very pleased to have completed it with a
distinction.
Congratulations to Matt for this success and we wish him well for the future.
18
DIGEST October/November 2013 www.dsg.mod.uk

across the country
untry
Warminster hold
open day for
family and
friends
DSG Warminster opened its
gates to employees and their
families and friends on
Saturday 27 July 2013.
A wide range of military vehicles
were on show in 4A and 1A
workshops including static displays
outside the buildings. After several
years of use as a vehicle storage
hangar the 1A workshop has
recently undergone refurbishment
to accommodate the Herrick Exchange Point for managing assets returning from Operation HERRICK.
The weather on the day was dry and sunny with the rain fortunately holding off until after the event. The event was well
supported and managed with members of the workforce volunteering to help out with over 100 visitors, making short work of
tea, coffee, squash and biscuits provided in 4A canteen.
Andy Hursey, Head of Warminster and Colchester Operating Units came over from Colchester for the day, accompanied by his
wife Karen. Andy said, “I was very pleased with the level of support for this event; bringing families into work on a day off
demonstrates the pride and commitment we all feel for our valuable role in supporting our Armed Forces.”
Old bras for
breast cancer
Gwen Picco, Assistant Commercial manager from DSG
Andover, has collected old bras to help raise vital funds for
Against Breast Cancer.
Employees from DSG Andover, Land Supply Business Unit, family and
friends kindly donated their unwanted or unloved bras to help Gwen
with her collection.
Against Breast Cancer has teamed up with BCR Global Textiles who
help small businesses in Africa. Through their textile project they are
preventing valuable textiles going to landfill sites giving them a new
lease of life in developing countries across Africa where bras remain
too expensive to produce. BCR donates £1,000 to the research for
every tonne of textiles they collect, which is equivalent to 9000 bras.
Gwen said, “Like many people, I have had family and friends go through
breast cancer. I have many bras, which I bought on impulse and simply
have not worn but kept. In an attempt to put them to good use, I
raided my drawers and encouraged others to do the same.”
www.dsg.mod.uk October/November 2013 DIGEST
19

competition
COMPETITION
For this month’s competition Oshkosh Defense has kindly
donated a die cast model of an MATV vehicle. All you have to
do to win, is to name the scary movie from the given clue.
Good luck!
1. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it features the murder of Janet Leigh's
character in the shower.
2. “I see dead people” is a memorable quote from this 1999 supernatural
horror film.
3. The film features a child possessed by a mysterious entity and her mother
seeks the help of two priests to save her. Also has the distinction of being
the first horror movie nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award.
4. Psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and
based on a Stephen King novel.
5. It features an orphaned boy with a birthmark in the shape of three sixes.
6. Though fictional, it is presented as found footage, as if pieced together
from amateur footage of three filmmaking students who disappeared in
the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary.
The closing date for the competition is Friday 1 November 2013.
The winner of last month’s competition and winning the WH Smith £200
Theatre Break Experience Gift Pack is Jane Twist from Catterick.
The correct answers were:
1. Levi’s – Jeans 2. Coca-Cola – Coke soft drink
3. Birds Eye - Potato waffles 4. Dior – Perfume
5. Aviva – Insurance 6. Audi – Car
Please send all your entries in to the Editor by Friday 1 November 2013.
E-mail: venus.tingzon@dsg.mod.uk
Intranet: Click on the link on the dsg.net homepage
Fax: 94391 5458 / 01264 385458
Post: DSG Corporate Communications, Sedgemoor Building,
Monxton Road, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 8HT
Name:
Business Unit/Department:
Telephone Number:
ENTRY FORM
RULES OF ENTRY
The competition is restricted to
DSG employees only.
Only one entry per person will be accepted.
20
DIGEST October/November 2013 www.dsg.mod.uk