Page 96 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

4 RIFLES – Of cers’ Mess
The of cers of 4 RIFLES have enjoyed another excellent year in the New Normandy Barracks Of cers’ Mess. With garden furniture nally in place, we are set to enjoy what remains of the summer, before eagerly taking up the role of a Specialised Infantry Battalion in October 2017. This remains somewhat of an unknown quantity, with potential for large numbers of the Mess to be committed to operations and training at any one time. Indeed, at the time of writing, nine of cers are deployed to Kenya with A Company.
The past year has again proven an extremely busy period, most notably in terms of a lengthy opera- tional deployment to Iraq over the winter months, for which a sizeable chunk of the Mess was called upon. Those not deployed were nonetheless kept busy as part of the Rear Guard, including exercises in Kenya. Needless to say, this has impacted on the running of the Mess; with the exception of a Burns Night event in January, social activities were limited until the return of the Op SHADER contingent. At the end of April, Dave Coombs put together an excellent Winter Ball, which doubled up as a post-tour event and a farewell to the Commanding Of cer, Lieutenant Colonel Carl Boswell, who has come to the end of his tenure with 4 RIFLES. This was followed in May with a Welcome Dinner for Lieutenant Colonel Peter Baines MBE, who is now responsible for taking 4 RIFLES forward into the uncharted waters of Specialised Infantry.
Whilst the new role for the battalion will undoubtedly bring its own challenges, the Mess is looking forward to a rejuvenated series of events over the summer. On 18 July, the rst in a series of monthly Mess Musters will take place, with RMAS academic Peter McCutcheon talking on the French experience of the Algerian War. Excitement is building for the 4 RIFLES Summer Ball, due to take place in early September, which will be organised by Steve Burton with a ‘Game of Thrones’ theme.
The Mess has recently said goodbye to a number of of cers. Pete Henriques has replaced Tom Joyce as an instructor at ATR Winchester, good luck Winchester! Tom returning to 4 RIFLES as Second- in-Command A Company. Tom Court and Chris Cathcart have also taken up instructor postings, this time at ITC Catterick. Dave Stirling leaves the Battalion for a posting as Training Of cer to UK forces in Brunei, with Andy Norton moving down Queens Avenue to take up an Operations Of cer role at 101 Logistics Brigade. There have been changes across the board in terms of Ri e Company Commanders: Mark Whitehouse has been replaced by Henry Coultart as Of cer Commanding A Company, with Mark taking up the post of SO2 Lethality at Army Headquarters; Andy Boardman has been replaced as Of cer Commanding B Company by Steve Pengilly, with Andy taking up the role of Military Assistant to Commander Joint Operations; nally, John Barry has left R Company in the hands of Simon Bedford-Smith, who joins the battalion from PJHQ. We wish all of those moving on from 4 RIFLES the very best with their new roles.
Recent additions to the battalion, and indeed The Ri es, are Tom Farrow, Harry Saunders and Ben Upton, who joined us at the end of 2016. Dom Watson also joins the Battalion from 3 RIFLES, taking up a Team Commander posting in A Company. Capt M O’Connor
THE PAST YEAR HAS AGAIN PROVEN AN EXTREMELY BUSY PERIOD
Serjeants’ Mess
I would start this article by saying “a very busy year for the Serjeants’ Mess,” however, when is it not a busy year for 4 RIFLES? That said, this year has been particularly busy and eventful, even for us. An operational tour and re-rôling into a Specialised Infantry Battalion have been the primary focus not just for the Serjeants’ Mess but the Battalion as a whole.
The Operational Tour took us back to Iraq, a place most Serjeants’ Mess members remember, not all too fondly. It took all the combined ability of those wearing three stripes and up to deploy us in good order in a very short space of time! The RQ Tech would have been pulling his hair out (if he had any left)! Needless to say, we all arrived in theatre ready for the task ahead. The CQMS’s had gone forward earlier under the guidance and supervision of the G4 Jedi, the BGLO Maj Pemberton, who relished the opportunity to pass on his wealth of knowledge to CSjt ‘Faz’ Farrell and CSjt ‘Jonny’ Williams.
On arriving in Al Asad Airbase we were met by the G4 team. By the look on CSjt Farrell’s face it was clear there had been a lot of BGLO experience that had been passed on! However, once up and running, CSjt Farrell’s daily routine consisted of at least 1 hour sunbathing, 2 hours in the Gym and at least 4 showers a day; Clearly not adhering to his own opening brief on ship showering! He did however win the DANCON (a Danish endurance race) convincingly and stagged on the front Sangar once. Being the humble man he is we didn’t hear much about it!
Op SHADER was a great opportunity for both B & R Company to gain some rare and valuable operational experience. For some, it was an ideal opportunity to de-tox and get in shape, WO2 ‘Ginge’ Metcalf led the way despite smoking over 40 a day! Also Sjt ‘Man Tash’ Renshaw got so into the
Marine Corp Cross t he had special “Cross t socks” sent out!
As for the Mess members on Rear Party, there was a ladies’ dinner night that was well attended and the opportunity for battle eld tours. The ARCMO WO2 ‘See me for a tracksuit’ Crossland however always seemed to have an appointment in Glasgow on a Friday so was unable to attend either.
The transition from Mech Inf to Spec Inf has seen the Mess say goodbye to many friends and welcome new ones. Notable we had RSM ‘Terry’ Rafferty’s leaving drinks, a function that was very well run by WO2 ‘Jon’ Bolam and hugely supported by all who attended - testament to his popularity across the Mess.
The success of the new role for 4 RIFLES will very much depend on the example set by the Warrant Of cers and Serjeants within the Company structures. As always a light touch but a rm grip is needed whilst demanding the highest standards of soldiering and leadership from ourselves and our Chosen Men.
WO2 (CSM) W Rigby
SJT ‘MAN
TASH’
RENSHAW
GOT SO INTO
THE MARINE
CORP CROSS
FIT HE HAD
SPECIAL
“CROSS FIT
SOCKS” SENT OUT!
94 FOURTH BATTALION
THE RIFLES