Page 26 - Bugle No. 17 Spring 2021

3 RIFLES
3 RIFLES IN
UKRAINE
In 2020, 3 RIFLES were the lead for Op ORBITAL, the UK Armed Forces’ deployment in Ukraine. The mission’s focus is providing training to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).
The reviews below have been written by two JNCOs and one Rifleman from their perspective who all deployed on different STTT’s in late 2020.
LCpl Fahey on the sword lane
As it was in summer, any downtime was spent either at the beach or trying a new restaurant
After isolating
in a 4* hotel with
a swimming pool, we then moved to Odessa, in the south of Ukraine, to run a Brigade level training package
BRIGADE TRAINING PACKAGE (BTP-03)
We deployed on BTP-03 in Aug 20. After isolating in a 4* hotel with a swimming pool, we then moved to Odessa, in the south of Ukraine, to run a Brigade level training package.
My team consisted of three LCpls, led by a Sjt and we oversaw the JNCO development aspect of the BTP for 32 students. We had 14 key learning points, ranging from casualty evacuation to FIBUA; how we achieved these objectives was down to us and we wrote the training program together.
None of us really knew what our students would be like on day one of the course. The first thing we did was an ice breaker and asked them to speak about combat experience and time served. There was a wide range of students in terms of experience and age. Some had been in six months whilst others had been in the AFU for 20+ years with countless tours.
Every student wanted to be there and was keen to learn from us. Sadly, the majority of AFU casualties in the past few years have come from snipers and IEDS. When we
LCpl Fahey on the sword lane
focused on teaching them how to counter this threat, you could see how interested they were.
It was satisfying to see how much they improved over the duration of the course. We often focused on the small things; like clipping up their pouches and moving firing positions. Our course was being run just prior to their redeployment back to the front-line trenches, so there was a strange mood on the last day of the course. It was sad to say goodbye to them after a fantastic six-week training program.
As it was in summer, any downtime was spent either at the beach or trying a new restaurant. Hands down, food in Ukraine is some of the best scran I’ve ever had. Also,
if you want tattoos all the artists there are savage and it’s about half-price compared to what you would pay in the UK.
LCpl J Fahey, C Coy, 3 RIFLES
26 RIFLES The Bugle
OP ORBITAL