Page 88 - Chronicle Vol 17

Kensington Palace London
W8 4PU
7TH BATTALION THE RIFLES
– ROYAL COLONEL UPDATE 2023
INTRODUCTION
Since my predecessor last wrote to you, the battalion has had a busy and fruitful year, focussing on further developing our soldering skills, providing a reserve at readiness in 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team and supporting the wider Army. The demands on the Army Reserve remain as high as ever and I hope you will be proud of contributions made by your riflemen over the year.
OPERATIONAL AND TRAINING ACTIVITY
In July the battalion deployed on Exercise BALTIC FIST to Estonia; one of the larg- est reserve deployments into an operational theatre in recent years. This activity formed part of the wider ‘SPEARPOINT’ series of exercises, which is the 20th Brigade initiative to collate the Reserve units in the brigade for annual deploy- ments. 7 RIFLES were selected to lead the deployment, supported by 3rd Battalion The Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment (3PWRR) and 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (5RRF) and were directed to deliver a battlegroup head- quarters and two rifle companies. It was a challenging brief, but 7 RIFLES and the other reserve battalions received widespread praise by delivering against these objectives. Elsewhere, the shooting team were unsuccessful in defending the title
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7th Battalion The Rifles 1a Iverna Gardens Kensington
London
W8 6TN
Telephone: +44(0)7949121016 Email: Guy.Lock728@mod.gov.uk
File reference: 7R/RoyalLetter/23 28 November 2023