New Commandant at home on the Range (From Western Telegraph)

New Commandant at home on the Range

Public access to the swathe of diverse Pembrokeshire countryside occupied by the military will remain a priority for the new commandant at Castlemartin Range.

Lieutenant Colonel Johnny Rogers (pictured) has travelled the globe during his 34-year army career. But the partnership shared by the military and civilian organisations in Pembrokeshire is unique to him.

He plans to maintain this harmonious partnership and encourage as many people as possible to use the Range - within the confines of safety and security.

One of the things this job offers which is different from any other I have done is the interface of the military with all sorts of civilian organisations such as Pembrokeshire County Council, Milford Haven Port Authority, the Coastguard, conservationists and archaeologists. Every one of these is a stakeholder in Castlemartin, Manorbier and Penally Ranges, a partnership which has been successfully achieved by Colonel Portman and his predecessors, says Lieutenant Colonel Rogers, appointed to succeed Lieutenant Colonel Michael Portman.

It is important we get the public access and conservation side of things right and I welcome the opportunity to continue the momentum that has been established in very much the same way.

But the Ranges have to be financially viable and he is keen they achieve their full military potential.

An armoured regiment from the Belgian Army is arriving next month and, in Lieutenant Colonel Rogers words we are not short of bookings. In his opinion, Castlemartin is the best range he has ever fired on - and there have been many of those.

He joined the Army at 17 to see the world and after completing his training at Sandhurt he was given a commission with the 11th Hussars in 1968. He then studied politics at Exeter University for three years before rejoining the renamed Royal Hussars.

His career has taken him to Northern Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Cyprus and Sierra Leone. In 1991 he was the British Exchange Officer at the US Army Armour School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and in 1993 he was involved in the British Military Mission in Kuwait.

This 1993 appointment earned him an OBE for service to Kuwait, an honour he was awarded in 1998.

Unlike his predecessors, Lieutenant Colonel Rogers will live at Castlemartin Camp. The Ministry of Defence plans to sell Hayston, the house which was home to previous commandants.

Two events established during Lieutenant Colonel Portmans posting at Castlemartin Range are to be maintained. The Range Ride will go ahead on March 24th and the Open Day has been scheduled for June 29th.