Page 100 - RSDG Year of 2021 CREST

106 EAGLE AND CARBINE
SCOTS DG, and B Company, 1 R IRISH, set about preparing for expeditionary training in the wadis of central Oman, the OPFOR went shopping. Vinyl stickers for the fleet of pickup trucks, £2 aviators, cor- ner shop keffiyehs and a uniform reminiscent of a UPS driver left the insurgent force guilty of crimes of fash- ion before the first round was even fired.
Those first rounds landed on Obj SILVER just before dawn. Simulated artillery shook the defences, mortally wounding the Sergeant Major before he could even unzip his sleeping bag. LCpl Clarke and Tpr Clark struck up the bagpipes, the call of the Gael echoed off the cliffs as parachute illumination pierced the sky. As first light broke, the OPFOR fought for the ridge- line against the R IRISH advance. Attack helicop- ters whirred angrily overhead, and SILVER seemed lost, but to the east some resisted. “Call me Dave!” exclaimed Tpr Gemmell, calm against the incoming TES fire. Taken aback, Ms Lucas, the 1 LANCS pla- toon commander, could only watch as Gemmell com- pleted his magazine change on the move with a smooth forward assist and a dart to the final stand position. Finally, the dust settled on SILVER and it was time to move to the set piece finale of the exercise, Obj GOLD.
Over three days the OPFOR delayed B Squadron’s advance across the desert with Tpr Beamish particu-
larly effective in a frantic RPG action against a cou- ple of Jackals. The same could not be said for the 1 LANCS navigational correction the next day after they found themselves some 50km west of the intended rendezvous. As the noose tightened on Obj GOLD, the OPFOR rolled their last dice. 3rd Tp under Mr Horridge and Sgt McGoochan slipped beyond Mr Chalmers’ Omani recce force to find B Company whilst 2nd Tp led by Mr Brindley-Slater and Sgt Thapa hid themselves in the high ground to await the advancing B Squadron. They did not have to wait long. The detonation of 100 kilograms of plastic explo- sive (whose precise location was, unnervingly, uncon- firmed for some time) signalled the start of the attack. TES artillery and Apache fire followed; the Sergeant Major once again mortally wounded shortly after lac- ing his boots. 2nd Tp responded with an ambush that removed A Squadron’s fire support troop from the action. 1st Tp held the village whilst 1 LANCS snipers barricaded themselves on the roof of the compound. Yet as the lead platoon from 1 R IRISH, complete with enthusiastic padre, pushed through the buildings the game appeared done.
Tea and medals were distributed all around. For the next few days, the entire battlegroup rehearsed a capability demonstration on Obj GOLD for the upcoming visit from the Secretary of State for Defence. Meanwhile,