Ashford's Territorial Army soldiers have got a new boss.

Lieutenant Colonel Ingrid Rolland has been appointed the first female Commanding Officer of 103 Battalion Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME), the Territorial Army Battalion based in Crawley, West Sussex and its 133 Field Company REME based in Ashford.

Incivilian life she is a sports rehabilitation therapist.
Lieutenant Colonel Rolland’s first taste of TA life was whilst studying at Leeds University where she joined the University Officer Training Corps.

She was commissioned in 1987 and on graduation joined the Regular Army, serving with the REME in both the UK and Germany for 10 years. On leaving the Regular Army she retrained as a sports rehabilitation therapist and worked in a private physiotherapy clinic in London where she became clinic manager.
On transferring back into the TA she became the Officer Commanding of the REME TA Recruit Selection and Training Team. Further appointments included Officer Commanding of both 209 and 207 Workshop Companies, part of 104 Battalion REME, based in Bordon, Hampshire.

In 2001, she took a Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) staff appointment in Equipment Support Branch Headquarters 1st (UK) Armoured Division and was deployed on Exercise SAIF SAREEA 2 to Oman.

Lieutenant Colonel Rolland said of her appointment: “I am delighted to be taking command of the 103 Battalion REME at a time when the contribution of the TA is vital.

"We have a very real role in helping our Regular counterparts achieve success on overseas operations, whilst maintaining an essential link between the military and the local community”.
103 Battalion REME is the South East’s only Territorial Army maintenance Battalion and its role within the Army is to maintain, repair, modify and recover nearly all the Army’s mechanical and electrical equipment.