Page 141 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

A Company
Just a stone’s throw from the historic city of Oxford, A Company has always found itself juggling ‘green’ training and deployments with the Regiment’s ceremonial links to county and the local community. This year, however, has seen A Company soldiers rise to the challenge with particular aplomb, to excel in both. In December 2016, A Company swept the board at the Battalion’s annual military skills compe- tition, winning the Fentiman Shield for best section (also winning second and third best sections, but who is counting...) and the Cup for best company overall throughout the year. This strong showing came on top of a winning performance in the Battal- ion’s annual shooting competition earlier in the year. In no small measure, these successes re ect the breadth of experience among A Company Ri emen, which the past year has provided ample opportunity to expand. In March, 1 Platoon’s Sjt Creed returned from Zambia where he deployed as part of a Short Term Training Team tasked to assist the Zambian Defence Force. Sjt Creed’s adventures with our local allies overseas (not to mention his sun-tan!) have whetted the Company’s appetite for future Defence Engagement – and proved invaluable during the Company’s beat-up training for this summer’s overseas exercise in Estonia alongside the Estonian Defence League.
In a land far away from the African sun, LCpl Cobb spent much of this year tackling a very different set of challenges amid the snow elds of Norway, as part of the Army team preparing for the icy wastelands of Antarctica on Exercise ICE MAIDEN. Serving as an attached Combat Medical Technician with A Company, LCpl Cobb answered the call for volun- teers for the Army’s rst all-female team to ski across the Antarctic landmass. During a gruelling selection process held rst in Snowdonia and then in Artic Norway, LCpl Cobb outperformed several hundred volunteers from across the Army, as the 250 hopefuls were whittled down to a team of just seven. Drawing on her civilian skills as a paediatric dietitian in the NHS, LCpl Cobb was selected as the expedi- tion’s dietitian and social media manager, respon- sible for sourcing and preparing the team’s rations – including the mysteriously named ‘Operation Foie Gras’!
A Company has also found itself ying the Regimental ag closer to home, as 2017 heralds both the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Regiment, and the centenary of a number of First
World War battles. In June, A Company joined 4 RIFLES in exercising the Freedom of the Vale in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, accompanied in traditional style by the Waterloo Band and Bugles and a Great British summer rain shower. A Company Ri emen also traded combats for ceremonials to remember the illustrious deeds of two of our forebears during the First World War. In High Wycombe, where A Company maintains an out-station, 2 Platoon led the Company’s honour guard for the town’s service of commemoration for 2Lt Frederick Youens of the Durham Light Infantry, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at Hill 60 near Ypres. A Company also joined local dignitaries in Headington, Oxford, to unveil a blue plaque at the home of Edward Brooks – after whom A Company’s barracks is named – a century to the day after he received his VC for actions in Fayet, as a Company Serjeant Major in a reserve battalion of the Oxford- shire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
Capt Alex Neads, 2IC A Coy
LCPL COBB ANSWERED THE CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR THE ARMY’S FIRST ALL- FEMALE TEAM TO SKI ACROSS THE ANTARCTIC LANDMASS
The Mayor of Faringdon inspects members of the parade
LCpl Cobb taking a well- earned break during Ex ICE MAIDEN training