Eight engineering officers and technicians, led by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Wilson FIMechE and Major Matthew Horn MIMechE, attended a ceremony at One Birdcage Walk, at which Institution CEO Stephen Tetlow – former Brigadier and Director of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering for the Army – presented SSgt Cheesman with the IMechE Best REME Senior NCO award.
Described by the judging panel as a bright, highly effective and dedicated engineer of exceptional ability, SSgt Cheesman was rewarded for his skills, knowledge, leadership and professional standards, which have helped to inspire the next generation of REME tradesmen and provided the very best operational support to the British Army’s newest fleet of Protected Mobility (PM) vehicles: Husky, Jackal, Coyote and Foxhound – a vehicle capability with a market value in excess of £3billion.
While continuing to improve and broaden his own engineering skills and knowledge, working towards professional accreditation, he simultaneously led and mentored over thirty junior engineers and technicians. Most impressively, he created an environment in which they felt confident and empowered to apply their trade skills and technical judgement. Through personal example he maintained the highest professional standards, displayed good communication skills and had the moral courage to make hard technical decisions; decisions that not only saved money but undoubtedly soldiers’ lives. All of this was achieved in the same year that he completed his REME artificer training, a highly demanding period of Mission Specific Training and a deployment to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 17.
While deployed on Operation HERRICK, his ability to translate the complex into the simple paid dividends. On many occasions he was called upon to brief non-technical senior officers on technical issues in order to better inform their decision making. A prime example of this was his conduct of a time sensitive engineering investigation and fault diagnosis on the Foxhound vehicle. His skills, knowledge and effective communication of his findings ensured the continued fielding of a new £0.4 billion capability. This undoubtedly saved lives.
Ahead of the Foxhound fielding, SSgt Cheesman volunteered to attend the specialist Foxhound maintainer course. His broad technical appreciation of Foxhound enhanced his standing as a technical manager and secured his position as the British Army’s leading technical subject matter expert on this capability. Most impressive was his management of technical risks and issues. Utilising the strengths and expertise of his team he was able to identify a method of regenerating mission batteries thought to be beyond repair. With a replacement value of approximately £16,000 per set and an initial failure rate of one set every week, the potential long term savings to Defence were significant. To date, his initiative has saved £200,000.
His outstanding level of support to a senior engineering officer ensured the timely publication of an in-depth technical report identifying 17 recommendations to improve Foxhound’s reliability and maintainability. The swift implementation of one of these recommendations, the adjustment of a fuel solenoid cable, delivered a potential saving to defence of over £115,000 and over 1,600 technician man-hours. Other recommendations, including the upgrade of components, could realise further potential savings amounting to millions of pounds over the vehicle’s service life.
On his own initiative SSgt Cheesman conducted an analysis of common Husky faults and used the data to design and deliver an appropriate repair course. Consequently, engineering standards were improved across the operational theatre and there was a 40% reduction in the requirement to send second line forward repair teams forward. This significantly reduced fault diagnosis times, in some cases by several hours, increased vehicle availability and reduced the need to transport personnel around Afghanistan.
Within days of arrival in the austere conditions of Afghanistan, SSgt Cheesman had assessed all engineering and technical processes and procedures, applied lean principles and implemented sensible and effective changes where required. This included: reorganising the technical accommodation, improving throughput, removing physical and process waste through the use of lean techniques and the rigorous application of engineering hygiene requirements. He also implemented a vehicle status board to communicate a visual overview of current production and engineering issues. All of this produced a net increase in his team’s daily productive capacity of over 50%.
Presenting the award, certificate and cheque for £250 to SSgt Cheesman, Stephen Tetlow said: “Having read the citation for SSgt Cheesman, it is clear that he is the embodiment of a professional engineer. He has gone well beyond the extra mile in extraordinary circumstances. It comes as no surprise to me that a highly expert and experienced REME Senior NCO such as Marc can achieve the things that he has. It is a fantastic achievement, a reflection of his Corps, and I feel rather humble and privileged to be presenting him with his award.”
SSgt Cheesman commented: “Operation HERRICK was a very challenging tour, and as engineers, we faced big challenges dealing with a lot of new equipment. My team of artificers – engineering technicians and tradesmen – gave me the confidence to get on and improve the vehicles.”
“It is really important that I can help the youngsters whom I manage to become better engineers, better tradesmen and better leaders. We are heading off to Canada next month to do the major winter repair programme on the vehicles. I will be bringing the majority of my team members who served with me in Afghanistan, together with some new tradesmen. There will be great opportunities to develop everyone further. The seniors can help develop the juniors, helping them to become professionally adept both as technicians and soldiers.”
“All the tradesmen do brilliant work, and it’s great that I can give them the guidance to enable them to be technically adventurous. Their support was outstanding, and it was thanks to their support that I have been given this award really for just doing my job.”
After the formal presentation of the award, the officers and NCOs had the opportunity to speak to Neil Hinchliffe, the Institution’s Armed Forces Liaison Officer, about the benefits of professional registration both for themselves and the REME engineers and technicians whom they manage.
Lieutenant Colonel Wilson and Major Horn, respectively a Fellow and Corporate Member of the Institution, gave their insight into why professional registration is increasingly important for serving military engineers and technicians.
Major Horn said: “There is a strong incentive to join the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and undertake professional registration. For many engineers and technicians, the reality is that they will only serve in the Army for somewhere in the region of 8-9 years, rather than 40 years, as happened in the past, so it’s vital to look after your CV and keep your professional credentials up to date and relevant for employers.”
“The British Army is evolving from an operational force into a contingency force which will draw heavily on reservists who are employed in civilian jobs. If soldiers are flipping between the regular Army and the reserve, it will be vital to be professionally registered so that skills, accomplishments and expertise are easily recognised and understandable to employers in both spheres. Increasingly, professional registration will be a ‘passport’ demonstrating professional credentials whether you work in the regular Army, the reserves or a civilian company.”
Lieutenant Colonel Wilson stressed the importance of professional registration, adding: “All branches of the Armed Forces are working more closely with civilian contractors and so, in this context, professional registration has taken on even greater relevance and significance in ensuring that there is collective and mutual understanding of skills, experience and expertise.”
“Moreover, in REME, we are seeing more and more posts which mandate that officers are Chartered Engineers, to ensure the safety, integrity and quality of equipment on which the lives of serving men and women depend. Since the publication of the Haddon-Cave report the number of senior technical Army posts that have to be filled by a Chartered Engineer have been expanded; while this was initially the case for aircraft engineers in REME, it is becoming increasingly applicable to roles within land systems too.”
Summing up the importance of the visit Stephen Tetlow, in his address to the REME group, said: “Today is all about professionalism. It is important to have a home for life as a professional engineer. Whether you are changing jobs within the Army or are leaving to work for a civilian engineering employer, a home for life in terms of professional development is really important, because it shows military or civilian employers that you are serious about and committed to your career as a professional engineer.”
“If you are passionate about being an engineer, it is also vital to give something back to the profession. We know that professional recognition is the most important thing for our members, but the second most important thing is encouraging the next generation. Without those young engineers of the future coming through, there won’t be a REME, and the UK’s economy won’t rebalance.”
“You cannot call yourself a professional engineer unless you adopt continuous professional development throughout your life. By becoming professionally registered with the Institution, we can give you what you need to further your career in engineering and develop your professionalism.”
If you’re looking to gain professional registration with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, please contact Neil Hinchliffe on aflo@imeche.org or +44 (0) 7590 735816