Page 11 - Mercian Eagle 2012

Just to prove the 2IC did wear cam cream at some point
village, but alarmingly quickly, the buses were separated from the landrovers and were forced to turn around. As this happened
the OC’s landrover was fired upon, (yes,
with real bullets!) and so exhibiting excellent anti-ambush drills, he and the 2IC’s landrover made best speed out of the killing area in
the opposite direction to the busses. It later transpired that we had driven into a riot between the Christian and Muslim groups
in the town and the fire we had seen had been from Isiolo prison. After a couple of days’ delay at Turaco farm, which, as it was preventing them from deploying into the field, the blokes didn’t whinge about too much, we made our way, unmolested, to Archer’s Post.
This would be the first real test for the Coy and consisted of a six-day exercise, separated into three two-day rotations.
The first rotation for us was the Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFEX). In my opinion the first day of the CALFEX was an anti-climax: I felt the range, although long and certainly physically testing was not
very tactically challenging for commanders, with left or right flanking being the only choice commanders were really forced to make. Things improved on the second day with the Coy clearing through a number
of trench systems and compounds, which severely tested CQM drills, and in particular, Section Commanders’ abilities to control their blokes in confused and cramped situations. In the second rotation the
Coy was challenged with a road convoy move, something which took most of the infantry commanders out of their comfort zone however, and with an extremely switched-on FSG as our vanguard, the Coy impressed on this evolution of the exercise.
Preparing for Afghanistan
On successful completion of our hybrid foundation training in Kenya, B Company
hit the ground running straight into Mission Specific Training (MST). MST began in earnest when the whole Battalion deployed down to Lydd for Ex PASHTUN HORIZON, with B Company carrying out cascade training for the first rotation. With a relatively young company it was a great opportunity to get the company together and start getting the guys working on platoon and company SOPs.
Proving the CQ’s G4 Plan was in the correct priority order
The final phase was centred on Forward Operating Base Twiga and a nearby village. This was the rotation from which my platoon learnt the most: tasked with securing the village it gave the soldiers a chance to interact with the locals, practise hearts and minds and start to learn the skills of fighting within a population centre. The six-day exercise was tiring but the progress made by the Coy was immense and I personally felt very confident moving into the final exercise.
Standards
After recovering back to Turaco Farm
the Battlegroup had a well deserved few days’ rest before moving to lake Naivasha for some adventurous training. Housed on an estate right next to the great lake, the Coy was surrounded by giraffes, buffalo and hippo. An experience many of the soldiers would otherwise never have had the chance to have, which is a theme of the whole exercise. Travelling all over the country, all members of the Battlegroup had a really good exposure to the country and were able to take in a number of great sights.
Overall the experience gained by a light role company on Ex
For the final exercise, the Battlegroup formed up at Turaco Farm and underwent a few days of battle
prep before once
again launching onto
the nearby training
area. Again, a six-
day exercise, the Coy
covered a staggering
amount of ground
on foot but showed
a tenacious and
aggressive attitude
whenever we met the
enemy. One moment I don’t think any member of the Coy will forget was one particular attack to clear the enemy from a hilltop. The attack began with a hideous night insertion down a wadi, littered with stones and low lying branches. The Coy persisted and despite a number of trips, falls and curses made its way to the objective. It was amazing to see how people found a burst of energy after a lion was heard roaring nearby! The exercise concluded with a classic final dawn attack, which saw the Battle Group converge to finally defeat the enemy, a moment every member of the Coy savoured.
With the weather matching that of the plains of Kenya during monsoon season, one of the areas where a lot of effort had to be expelled was in one of the key principles of war: Maintenance of Morale. With Sgt McQueen stepping up to CQMS/Tuck shop the lads were kept fully sugared and keen to go. To start off, 4 Platoon got stuck
into some live compound clearance, which took nerves of steel from the safety staff having seen the guys going through dry! Whilst this was going on 5 Platoon were
ASKARI THUNDER 5 was immeasurable. Yes, the exercise has some frictions and is not perfect in every aspect but it allowed the Coy to practise and be tested in an austere environment for a prolonged period of time. At a time
when private soldiers live in single man
en suite rooms whilst in camp, exercises like ASKARI THUNDER provided an environment for soldiers to bond and learn each others’ strengths and weaknesses. It also provides a cultural experience that will be totally new to the majority of the soldiers who will have never visited Africa before. The ASKARI THUNDER package and days between rotations provide an opportunity to go to local towns and for some (note above photograph of OC gagging to visit Narobi town for what I’m sure will have just been a few social beers!), will be what they remember most from the exercise.
conducting a three-hour turkey shoot/FOB defence; it later transpired that B Company had the highest target hit ratio within the Battalion. Whilst not on lessons or ranges the guys were brushing up on med training, language training with Pte Winfield putting his best Pasthu to the test, IED drills and other key tasks that with time can get skill fade. One of the key lessons was the IED detection stand and with a three-hour lesson planned outside, the weather gods stepped it up a gear seeing the crustiest of
An experience many of the soldiers would otherwise never have had the chance to have, which is a theme of the whole exercise.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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