Institution news
SSgt Gary Burdon, who was until recently assigned to BATUS, is currently following his Warrant Officer Command and Leadership Course (WO CLM) at MoD Lyneham in Wiltshire, prior to taking up a post in Kenya.
He had not realised he had been nominated for the award, until he was informed by Major Laura White, BATUS Workshop.
“The award is great for professional recognition,” he said. “To be recognised for this award really is an honour. The MOD is very keen to ensure engineers and technicians are recognised as professionals and within the profession; from the lowest level right up through the ranks.”
SSgt Gary Burdon said: “This award from the Institution gives those of us in the military services a new appreciation of the opportunities that are open to us both within and outside of the military.”
In Canada, SSgt Burdon was the face of the workshop for the exercising Battlegroups. During the all-important winter repair programme each year, he became the hub through which all inspection reports came for the entire BATUS fleet of over 1600 platforms.
He said: “When I was doing the Warrant Officer 2 role, as Workshop EMS co-ordinator, I covered all the trades. Now there are three people doing that job. I had to coordinate the trades – for example on one piece of kit there might be five different inspections.”
He and his team became integral to the largest unit fleet being rehabilitated and issued to the Battlegroup in the spring and continued to support their training throughout the year.
SSgt Burdon added: “There are teams of teams working to individual goals but at the end of the day we’re all working towards the same goal – they ensure that everything is in place to allow the exercises to take place.
“Canada as a location provides many challenges. The combination of the environment, especially in the winter, and the lack of infrastructure means that everything has had to stand outside without any protective cover, anything that has been repaired may need to be repaired again before it can be issued out.
“For the craftsmen and technicians, the amount of and type of equipment we have to deal is a massive step-up. They are often faced with kit they have either never worked on before, or have only encountered the equipment on training course; suddenly we have to focus on getting it repaired in tight timescales. Out in Canada we are remote, so it is a realistic representation of what it is like to be in theatre.”
SSgt Burdon has embraced the move into the role of production, planning and control (PP&C) artificer and has continued his professional development by undertaking a number of Canadian legislative courses.
This has enabled him to ensure that the workshop not only complies with UK H&S and automotive repair standard requirements, but understands which of the plethora of Canadian rules take precedence.
This has required an innovative process to ensure that BATUS comply with all legislations of both nations concurrently. For example a UK MOT involves a roller brake testing, whereas in Canada this is not recognised and an inspection of the drums is the required legislative procedure.
His move into a managerial role allowed SSgt Burdon to develop himself as an engineering leader whilst maintaining his skills. Throughout his time in PP&C, SSgt Burdon ensured that he has remained SQEP (Suitably Qualified and Experience Personnel) on the heavy armoured platforms, which is where his experience sits, by mentoring the vast array of young technicians who pass through BATUS either as permanent staff, temporary staff or exercising troops.
He has routinely deployed onto the training area with the gunnery staff to ensure that the guns are safe to fire and accurate ahead of every live fire event in BATUS. Not one to keep this knowledge to himself, he has also energetically mentored the other armoured system electronic technicians within the Workshop on this procedure in order to provide continuity for BATUS, which will ensure that live firing events can occur for generations to come.
In June, SSgt Burdon visited One Birdcage Walk, accompanied by his father, John Burdon, where he was presented with his award certificate and a cheque for £250, by the Institution’s CEO Stephen Tetlow.