Page 32 - Bugle Spring 2024

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MILITARY SKILLS COMPETITIONS
The Duchess of Edinburgh Competition is an annual military skills competition between the units HRH is the Royal Patron of. This year, for the first time it was hosted by previous victors, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, in St Catherines, Ontario.
Led by Lt Rye and Sjt Ghale, an 8-person team from D Company were deployed to bring back the silverware. However, after a fierce day of competition, the team finished 2nd place, behind the host and last year’s champion.
Regardless of the result, the week-long deployment was quoted to be, a ‘trip of a lifetime.’ The team stayed in a hotel overlooking Niagara Falls, enjoyed divulging in the local Canadian culture and made friends for life with our rival units from across the pond.
Moreover, the 5 RIFLES Operational Shooting Team saw some fantastic progress this year. The Bisley competition was once again the focus, and this year saw some of our best results. All team members were placed
this year saw some of our best results
in the top 81 shots across the competition.
Of note was Cpl Stanton, was second and LCpl Eggett who placed 9th in the individual rankings. As a team, we placed third overall, narrowly beaten by the two teams from the Royal Gurkha Rifles. This was an improvement on our 2022 performance and saw us continuing to close the gap on our rivals. 2024 team selection and training has commenced and planning for the Regimental Shooting Competition is underway.
Duchess of Edinburgh Military Skills Competition, D Coy Dogs take 2nd Place
Operational Shooting Team: ‘Top overall team,’ ‘Top International Team’ and ‘Top Tri Service Team’ on Urban and Rural Contact Assessments
Sport and Adventurous Training
This year the Battalion has taken part in numerous sports and adventurous training events. We placed first in the Army’s Southwest region “Festival
of Sport” in July, an extraordinary achievement, entering swimming, squash, rugby, British Army Warrior Fitness, Cross Country Mountain biking, badminton, powerlifting, golf and football.
We currently have soldiers from
the Battalion representing the Army
in triathlon, rugby and powerlifting. Lance Corporal Cozens, Army Triathlon, will compete at the Ironman World Championship in New Zealand in Dec 2024, Rifleman Salusalu was selected for the Army Rugby 7’s, Lance Corporal Needham and Rfn Tamanivalu have
represented the Army and Combined Services at U23 rugby union. Rfn Suguvanua is playing Army rugby league and has been selected for pre-season trials with the Midland Hurricanes, a National League One team. LCpl Pantelli represents Army Swimming Team in
both indoor and outdoor settings, Capt Hamilton has been selected for the Army Nordic Team, Rfn Saukawa is playing Army U23 basketball, and both WO2 Hopkins and Rfn Gregory have proven their strength in the Armed Forces Powerlifting competition.
Impressively, Rfn Carter (Biathlon) and Rfn Young (Olympic Skeet) have been awarded Army Talented Athlete Scholarships Schemes, which provides
5 RIFLES’ football team
Festival of Sport: 2 wins, 4 second places and 1 third, giving them the overall win
S&C, nutrition, psychological, lifestyle and physiotherapy services to athletes who are currently unfunded by UK Sport and who sit somewhere close to the standard required for entry into Podium/ World Class Development programmes.
Since July 5 RIFLES have taken part in sailing the Channel Islands, mountain biking in Isle of Wight as well as in Winterberg, Germany. Additionally, the deployment of the Battalion to Germany, has given Riflemen the time to attend the Adventure Training Wing (Harz) in Sonnenberg, where the opportunity for mountain biking, mountaineering and rock climbing has been embraced with enthusiasm. The forecast for Battalion AT is looking boundless as we move onto OP CABRIT 14.
32 RIFLES The Bugle