Page 12 - Wish Stream Year of 2019

Exercise MARTELLO SHARPSHOOTER
OCdt de Winton
Ex MARTELLO SHARPSHOOTER is the final exercise of Intermediate Term and com- prises a live fire package to prepare Officer
Cadets for Live Fire Tactical Training during Sen- ior Term on Ex DYNAMIC VICTORY. The pro- gramme for the four days is an initial grenade qualification range on day one, followed by three days of increasingly complex live fire ranges.
The grenade ranges kicked off on a frosty morn- ing with the extensive testing CC192’s ability to throw; needless to say, one Royal Welsh Colour Sergeant came close to losing his good looks to the first barrage of stones! Once the abil- ity to launch a grenade-sized object had been deemed sufficiently safe, live throwing began. In pairs, Officer Cadets took turns throwing a live grenade with the satisfying reward of a small shower of gravel.
The final two ranges for the day were the Mech- anized Moving Target Training Range (MMTTR) and the Section in Defence. The MMTTR brought the challenge of having to fire at targets simulating an enemy moving between areas of cover which, on completion, lead to the Section in Defence shoot. The serial began with a move into trenches, crawling out from behind cover to occupy a defensive position facing the coast. The sections then engaged targets at shorten- ing ranges until nearly overrun and withdrawing back behind cover.
The fifth and final shoot of the day was the Limit of Night Visibility (LNV) shoot. After supper on the ranges, Officer Cadets began the shoot in near darkness. Although simple in concept, the lack of any artificial light on the range increased
the challenge for Officer Cadets and Range Safety Staff alike.
Day four began with a street fire and manoeuvre range where Officer Cadets advanced down the range in pairs before being ‘engaged’ by tar- gets. After bounding forwards alter- nately whilst maintaining a weight of fire on the ‘enemy’, a withdrawal under fire was conducted to safety.
Arguably the most dangerous range, it rigorously tested the ability of Officer Cadets to carry out individual battle drills under pressure whilst mov- ing. The final range of the Exercise heralded the return of General Service Respirators (GSR) for the last time in the Intermediate Term. To simu- late firing in a CBRN environment, Officer Cadets donned GSRs and engaged targets at 100m and 200m to be rewarded with being allowed to remove them. Following lunch and weapon cleaning, we were cleared off the range for the final time and headed for RMAS.
The range package certainly exceeded most Officer Cadets’ expectations and CC192 now awaits the live fire package of Ex DYNAMIC VIC- TORY in March with great anticipation.
Day two was a frosty start, with
Officer Cadets bracing them-
selves for a cold morning on the
range. As luck would have it, the
gallery range for our rifle Annual
Combat Marksmanship Test
(ACMT) had a troop shelter that
would put in a good showing at
a sauna contest. With much relief
for those not on the point, firing began with the range testing marksmanship skills at 100m and 200m. Despite some “zeroing” issues, CC192 performed well with mostly first time passes and a number of Officer Cadets qualifying at marks- manship standard.
The same cold weather greeted us as we arrived at Hythe ranges. The change of scene brought a new challenge with an Individual Battle Skills Range (IBSR), CBRN and night shoots and an automatic assessment, to name but a few. Start- ing at the automatic fire assessment, Officer Cadets were introduced to the concept of burst control and, whilst simplistic in nature, the range provided useful lessons on the potential of the individual weapon. This was swiftly followed by the Individual Battle Skills Range (IBSR). This brought the added complication of utilising different firing positions behind several types of cover, engaging targets at ranges between 50m and 400m.
Day two was a frosty start, with Officer Cadets bracing themselves for a cold morning on the range.
10 SANDHURST