Page 92 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

R Company - Building
Partnership Capacity
- Op Shader 3.5
In September 2016, two companies plus Battalion Headquarters deployed to the Anbar province of Iraq on OP SHADER. Prior to the deployment, a company was formed with the speci c aim of providing training and mentoring to members of the Iraqi security forces (ISF). Representative Company was uplifted by specialists from Support Company and formed into four 12-man teams, set up to be rank and specialist heavy, and to operate from Mastiffs. This was to be the Building Partner Capacity (BPC) Company.
Working in and around Al Asad Airbase and living in Camp Havoc, the BPC Coy were working within a coalition made up of Danes, Latvians, Estonians and Americans. Working within a coalition posed challenges based around language and operating styles, although due to a clearly de ned collective mission, these were easy to overcome through plenty of dialogue between the nations in the coalition.
During Representative Company’s time in Iraq, training was split between the battle hardened 7th
WORKING WITHIN A COALITION POSED CHALLENGES BASED AROUND LANGUAGE AND OPERATING STYLES
A member of the BPC demonstrates search techniques to the Iraqi Security Forces