Page 100 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

Foreword
Conscious that I had only recently taken over command, I read through this year’s selection of articles to get a avour for what had preceded my arrival. I am genuinely staggered by what the Battalion has managed to squeeze into the last twelve months. The principal building blocks have been: a Battlegroup exercise deployment to BATUS; the unit move from Paderborn to Bulford; Fire Support Company and JNCO cadres; providing the UK Standby Battalion for Op TEMPERER; and the deployment to Estonia on Operation CABRIT. Writing this from Battle- group Headquarters approximately 100km from the Russian border, I can safely say there does not appear to have been any let up in the pace or intensity of activity. It is testament to the sel ess commitment, professionalism and tenacity of the Battalion, and the patience and understanding of our families, that we have been able to achieve all that we have this year.
Above all else, the thing that has dominated 2017 has been the preparation for and deployment to Estonia. Various people have tried to de ne and pigeon-hole Op CABRIT; the simple fact is that there is no precise historical precedent or parallel. There is no doctrinal template. One of the most challenging but rewarding aspects of leadership at any level, or in any walk of life, is that leaders are quite often taking people on a journey to a destination that is not entirely known, via a route that hasn’t been travelled before. That is certainly the case with this Operation.
It is perhaps appropriate, given the spirit of innovation associated with our forebears, that a Ri es Battlegroup are the rst troops to set foot in the theatre, ploughing new ground and establishing what is going to be at least a ve-year commitment for NATO. Here, at the request of the Estonian government and following the announcement made by 28 Heads of State at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016, the UK has deployed the Enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup (c.1200 men and women from a variety of capbadges, including French and Danish soldiers) to provide a proportionate, defensive and combat capable force to deter hostile activity. The aim is to strengthen NATO’s deterrence posture and use the unity of the Alliance to ensure European security. At the tactical level, this has manifested itself in a huge variety of tasks and responsibilities. It has also provided some fantastic opportunities, not least having a French Company as part of the Battlegroup. As I write this, the stirring sound of the French Foreign
Legion singing, as they slow-march through camp to the cookhouse, can be heard oating across the evening air.
Without a deployed Brigade or Divisional Headquarters above us, most of the logistical burden of deploying, setting and sustaining the theatre has fallen to the Quartermaster, Maj Curt Gibson, and his team of unsung heroes. They have been phenomenal. On the ground for the Companies and sub-units, tasks have ranged from taking part in large multinational exercises and conducting demonstrations of force, to planning and preparing for the defence of Estonian sovereign territory, to taking part in military parades and conducting community outreach activities. We even helped host the Transformers lm premiere in Tallinn. Strategic communications have been at the core of this mission, one that has required everything from cam cream, tanks and a tightly enforced counter-in- telligence plan, to ceremonial dress and a yacht!
A key feature of the tour and a clear indication of its strategic signi cance has been the number of visitors we have received. In one month alone, we hosted: three Presidents; the US Vice President; two Prime Ministers; three Ambassadors; the British, Estonian and Irish Chiefs of Defence Staff; the British, French and Danish Army Chiefs; the Commander of US Army Europe, UK’s Chief of Joint Operations, NATO’s Commander MNC(NE), as well as a variety of other senior military of cers. We
The Commanding Of cer brie ng the US Vice President and the Presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in Tallinn
98 FIFTH BATTALION
THE RIFLES
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