11th Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Coming together for the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon
A team from the 11th Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) joined the AFF effort for the first time in 2011 for the MCM in Washington DC.
Read team members' amusing bios below. We welcome these new entrants to our cause. We'll be posting pictures of the team members presently.
Support them at http://www.active.com/donate/TeamAzalea2011/REME
Capt Phil Price leads the team, having commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2009. He has served with 4 Close Support Battalion REME and with 1st Battalion (Vikings) The Royal Anglian Regiment. Yet to venture on operations, he does at least have experience running marathons, triathlons and also ultra-marathons. Having an American wife, he can’t wait to get over to the other side of the pond, especially with the thought of a cold Sam Adams or Flying Dog at the end of the MCM.
Major Lewis Hartman commissioned into REME from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in December 1999. After an initial posting with 6 Bn REME, he has spent the remainder of his Regimental career working in the aviation world with all of the British Army's helicopter and fixed wing types. He has just returned from Afghanistan after a 3 month tour and found it quite taxing training in up to 45 degrees C heat! He is returning to working as an Apache desk Officer at the Joint Helicopter Command. He prefers off road "extreme" running and has completed 10 Tough Guy winter events, the last one finishing in the top 100. He completed the London Marathon in 1998 and was waiting for a marathon in an interesting location before doing one again - hence the Washington Marine Corps Marathon!
WO1 (ASM) Rob Hale brings a wise head to the team having been in the Queen’s service since 1991. Having made it to the top of the soldier ranks and in no way being long in the tooth, he has served all over the British Army. During this time he has used his considerable experience on operations in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan. A scouser from Liverpool and an Avionics Tech, he is meticulous and precise in everything that he does, but will that be enough for the challenge of 26.2 miles, especially on his knees? That said he’ll keep a smile on his face in the knowledge that no matter how bad he feels SSgt Atkins will probably be feeling worse.
SSgt Danny McNeill joined the British Army in November 2000 as an Electronics Technician within the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He has served with 22nd Regiment Royal Artillery and 3 Royal Horse Artillery. He has served on operations in Cyprus and Iraq. He is currently training to be an Artificer at 11 (Trg) Bn REME in Arborfield. SSgt McNeill’s dream is to be a track-suit soldier, playing sport for a living, but unfortunately work (and his wife) keeps getting in the way. He spends most of his time on the soccer football pitch and fancies himself as a bit of a distance runner having achieved a best marathon time of 3hrs 33mins.
Mne Jamie Jowett is the last and by no means the least member of the team. Mne Jowett passed his gruelling Marine Selection course in 2005 and was posted to 40 Commando Regiment, Royal Marines. He has deployed on operations in Afghanistan. In 2010 he was involved in a Taliban rocket attack which resulted in shrapnel wounds to his spine, buttock and heel. During his recovery he got involved in running and has already run a marathon in the heat and altitude of Kenya in June earlier this year. Something for us all to aspire to.
SSgt Nick Atkins is nearing the end of his time in the British Army and is the ‘old man’ of the team. Having served twenty years, his job as an Avionics Technician has taken him all over the world, serving in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo amongst others. Currently he is an Avionics Instructor at the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering in Arborfield. A keen cross country mountain biker, he is used to endurance events but has yet to partake in anything as long as a Marathon. SSgt Atkins has swapped his cycling shoes for running shoes, and with a bit of training is confident he will complete the Marathon alongside his team mates.
You can offer support the the REME team here: