Page 49 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

Operation TRENTON
In Jan 2017, with the Company at 5 days’ notice to resilience shown by all ranks was exceptional
Wet season arrives, Upper Nile State, South Sudan
move and South Sudanese visa applications process producing nothing, no one believed that Operation TRENTON 2 would happen. It is, therefore all the more incredible that, 6 months further on, the Task Force not only deployed to near full strength but also achieved the Main Effort for the tour, the estab- lishment of a UK Role 2 Hospital in Bentiu, Unity State. C Company personnel played a signi cant role in the preparation and deployment, something of which we can all be rightly proud.
Operation TRENTON is the rst major UK deployment in support of a UN mission for 20 years (not counting Operation TOSCA). It is the rst time ever that the UK has deployed to a Chapter 7 UN mission with robust rules of engagement for the protection of civilians. C Company personnel deployed as part of an Engineering Task Force to the north of South Sudan to Malakal (Upper Nile State) and Bentiu (Unity State) in support of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The purpose of the deployment was to provide engineering and medical support to the UN to enable to enable more ef cient use of peace keepers in support of the mandate.
Pre-deployment training focussed very much on a ‘peace-keeping’ mind-set, which could not be more distant from recent UK military experience. Ri emen were required to develop a deep under- standing of the complex rules of engagement and gain con dence in their application in a wide variety of scenarios. They were required to show judgement and restraint, yet respond robustly in the protection of civilians. Critical to success was the deployment of a task force, well prepared to enforce the mandate and to passively enhance the performance of the wider UN force through a professional approach.
C Company deployed over a prolonged period between February and May 2017 and remained in theatre until August 2017. The patience and
throughout an extremely frustrating period of waiting. The professionalism shown once deployed, in the uniquely challenging and unusual environment of a UN operation, within an Engineer task force was truly impressive. Ri emen integrated themselves rmly into the task force, building strong working and social relations with both Royal Engineer and enabling personnel.
I could not have been more pleased with the way C Company personnel conducted themselves throughout Operation TRENTON. They enhanced the reputation of 2 RIFLES and the wider Regiment through their enthusiasm, character and profes- sional ability on a high pro le operation where the cost of failure to reputation of the UK was high. Major Mike Hosegood,
Of cer Commanding C Company
THE PATIENCE AND RESILIENCE SHOWN BY ALL RANKS WAS EXCEPTIONAL THROUGHOUT
THE RIFLES
SECOND BATTALION 47
Credit: Cpl Moffatt, 34 Sqn, 39 Engr Regt