Page 71 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

Operation TEMPERER is now a regular aspirations – these are retention positive activities
CO’s Friday tness across the Pentland Hills
mainstay of infantry battalion life in the various guises it takes. The deployment in response to the Manchester terrorist attack in May 2017 witnessed troops from the battalion deploy within 24hrs to back ll armed police in support of the wider UK response. Although relatively small in number the Ri emen from B Company, supported by enablers, covered a six day window guarding critical UK infrastructure. The task may be less glamorous than recent operational experiences abroad but sits at the heart of UK homeland resilience and is very much mainstream activity for the Army. The agility and readiness and professional excellence that 3 RIFLES has become accustomed to over recent years was very much proven.
Sporting prowess and personal endeavour continues across the spectrum of sports and adventure training. As the Ri es Regimental lead, the battalion football team continues to deepen its experience and bring success. The Rugby team has had a new lease of life and demonstrated great promise by winning the 1 Brigade inter-unit trophy. Both the Alpine and Nordic ski teams performed way beyond expectation during Ex FROSTED BLADE with notable personal accolades going to Cpl Smith (Best Downhill) and LCpl Wiseman (Nordic Infantry). Many members of the battalion have represented the Infantry, Army or inter-ser- vices in sports from hockey, boxing, kayaking, football, golf, clay shooting and rugby. Although busy, sport and adventure continues to be a focus for both weekly training and individual personal
that have tangible output to military profession- alism. The rapid success of the battalion boxers has been noteworthy. The inter-company boxing nals were screened live on Facebook with over 50,000 views and marked a new approach to social media. The battalion provided all but one of the boxers for the Army Scotland team in the successful defence of their title against Royal Navy Scotland and the crowning glory was an emphatic victory over 2 SCOTS in the inter-unit competition. A competitive edge coupled with physical endeavour and the will to win is alive and well in 3 RIFLES, with more to come.
Edinburgh remains one of the Army’s top locations for a posting with our link to 51 Infantry Brigade continuing as part of the Regional Point of Contact. Although, with the move to 1 Brigade the battalion link with 5 RRF has gone, the emergence of 8 RIFLES and the 3 RIFLES af liation to the north of England has provided new options and deepened existing recruiting and regional ties. The planned move to Catterick in 2021 as a STRIKE battalion is still a distant aiming marker but until then the battalion continues to reap the bene t of living on the edge of one of the United Kingdom’s greatest cities.
The pace of change requires an adaptive mind with the ability to be malleable, while remaining operational focused and ready throughout. We all look forward to the future challenges in the coming year.
Lt Col Richard Smith
THE AGILITY AND READINESS AND PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE THAT 3 RIFLES HAS BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO OVER RECENT YEARS WAS VERY MUCH PROVEN
THE RIFLES
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