Page 25 - MERCIAN Eagle 2022

Kohima Coy Boxing
Sgt Rowley-Johnson
The Battle of Kohima took place during WWII in 1944. For three months soldiers fought gruelling hand to hand combat over the Kohima Ridge in Burma. It epitomised courage and discipline,
core values held within C Company.
It is fitting that the values and bravery established by our forebears are the same values demonstrated by the soldiers who represented the company at the battalion boxing.
The Battalion Boxing Night was the culmination of a demanding training regime. The boxers spent six weeks learning their craft. The majority of
the boxers had little to no boxing experience. Yet, the team exhibited great discipline. They trained ruthlessly and committed to an exacting programme and stuck to the unyielding diet to develop optimal performance.
The boxers spent multiple weeks away from camp at civilian boxing gyms. The work put in at Donnington ABC and Plyofit Elite Fitness allowed the troops to focus on boxing and getting battle ready. Both gyms were brilliant and the team at Plyofit was headed up by a veteran ‘Bav’ who served in the Royal Tank Regiment. Not only did they allow the Kohima Boxers to use the facilities, but they also shared their huge amount of experience and ringcraft with the team.
Ptes Stevens, Lorja, and Hunt displaying their trophies – Picton Barracks 13 Nov 22
Three boxers fought in the finals
with the roar of the company behind them. Pte Hunt won his bout in a U19 Light Welterweight contest. This was a hard-fought contest in which he boxed brilliantly to earn the decision from the judges. Pte Stevens was next up for
the Company, fighting in a Welterweight contest. Pte Stevens implemented
his coaches game plan to produce a decision win in another intense fight. Pte Stevens demonstrated great control to remain calm when put under pressure. The final fight of the evening was the Super-Heavyweight contest in which Pte Lorja represented C Company.
The fight was rightly awarded fight of the night. Both boxers displayed great determination, leaving everything in the ring. The fight went the distance, but Pte Lorja lost by a split decision.
Overall, the night was a huge success and demonstrated the cohesion
within the company. All the boxers put everything on the line, and they were never alone, showing that the bond being forged is a strong one. The evening epitomised the strong values the company strives to uphold, and every boxer represented these to the highest standard. The company will now endeavour to maintain boxing as the core of its physical activity, carrying it out weekly.
Armoured Infantry Platoon Commanders Course
Lt Max Hemming
After completing the Platoon Commanders Battle Course (PCBC), I attended the Armoured Infantry Platoon Commander’s Course. This course teaches the skills to command an armoured infantry platoon
of Warriors. The course is split into four stages: signals, driving and maintenance, gunnery, and tactics.
The signals course takes you through the Bowman communication systems. It was a step up in complexity from that which I was used to from Sandhurst and PCBC. These systems are vital due to the distances between the vehicles when tactically deployed. After signals, we were excited
to get our hands on the Warrior during the driving and maintenance course. We learnt about the daily running of the Warrior and the work required to make this machine run. The highlight was the opportunity to drive and command a Warrior for the first time.
The next phase was gunnery. We learnt how to operate the 30mm Rarden cannon and the chain gun. We began in the classroom learning the drills, then we were put through weapon tests in the Warrior before being able to use these skills on live ranges. The live range package brought together many of the skills we had learnt over the previous months.
Finally, we combined all of the skills taught up to that point on a tactics phase
in Warminster. This taught us the doctrine
of armoured infantry warfare and how to work in a combined Arms battlegroup. We also travelled to Sennelager in Germany
to practise these tactics on the Combined Arms Tactical Trainer simulators, culminating in Ex COMBAT SPIRIT, which rounded off
all the skills learnt throughout the course. We worked alongside the Heavy Armour and Armoured Recce Courses to fully understand and test our knowledge while working within an armoured battlegroup.
I have reached the end of a long but rewarding period of training and I now look forward to putting it all into practice with my Platoon.
2Lt Hemming training to command Warrior AFV – Bovington,12 Aug 22
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