Page 148 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

STTT to the Peace Mission Training Centre in South Africa
38 Brigade is responsible for delivering increased Defence Engagement in South Africa. Consequently, 7 RIFLES is tasked in rotation to deliver Short Term Training Teams (STTT) at the behest of the Defence Attachés located in those countries. In November the British Peace Support Team (BPST South Africa) initiated such a request, which was turned into an STTT comprising Capts Barron and English, WO2 Welch and Cpl White. The primary skills on those on offer being G2, G3, G4Med and G4MT in addition to nearly 60 years Infantry experience. The task being to observe and mentor the staff and learners at the South African National Defence Force’s Peace Mission Training Centre (SANDF PMTC) in Pretoria. The United Nations Military Observers (MilOb) course started on 25 October with 44 SANDF Captains and Majors, or equivalent from across all three services, training for this demanding role in Africa’s trouble spots.
Mr Welch diligently drew up the G1 and G4 plan guiding the other three through hurdles such the Healix medical support programme, obtaining a certi cate of dental tness, drafting a personal biography and having suf cient kit within the 46kg airline weight limit to do the job whilst being comfortable. Cpl White pulled together personal medical kits whilst scoping what was required in case treatment was needed for any of the seven British personnel that would deploy on the exercise area in Mpumalanga Province in the nal week of the course. The team assembled at Heathrow, where night vision equipment was issued probably much
NIGHT VISION EQUIPMENT WAS ISSUED PROBABLY MUCH TO THE CONFUSION OF CUSTOM OFFICIALS AND PASSENGERS ALIKE
to the confusion of custom of cials and passengers alike. The ight to Johannesburg was uneventful and we were met promptly by BPST on arrival and delivered to the cottage rented for our stay in the charming suburb of Waterkloof, which was to be our home for the next 4 weeks.
We shook out, received the ground truth from the SO2 PMTC, were given our lessons to plan and generally got ourselves together to join the course, which started that day. The rst 2 days were given over to driving assessment and navigation refresher training. The STTT consciously slipped into the course by distributing ourselves amongst the SANDF MilOb learners in order to better understand the course content and the subtle differences of two armed forces that reside 8,000 miles apart. This proved to be a smart move as we became swiftly accepted by staff and learners alike. A mix of hard and soft skills were inculcated across a two week period with possibly the most interesting lessons delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).They covered the nuances involved in successful restoration of the remains of victims in con ict. Since UN MilObs are unarmed we were not spared the realities of what happens when MilObs are caught out by events. Needless to say it can be fatal.
That was weeks one and two in which we also visited Ladysmith and a Nature Reserve. In week three we were posted as observer mentors to our syndicates. Each with their Lt Col or Major SANDF Syndicate Leader, each of whom has current rst hand MilOb experience. The Syndicates rehearsed, and then delivered a country brief for each of Burundi, DRC, Somalia and Sudan. These are countries in which South Africa currently has, or has recently, deployed MilObs. Needless to say we learnt a huge amount of G2 in territories which we have yet to go to. In addition this week was more active with a one day cross country driver training
South Africa, Canada and the United Kingdom representing the Commonwealth of Nations
146 SEVENTH BATTALION
THE RIFLES