Page 17 - Mercian Eagle 2016

C (Kohima) Company
OC’s Foreword
The last 12 months have proven to be a diverse, challenging, yet highly rewarding period for the fighting men of C (Kohima) Company. The year saw the consolidation and development of skills so carefully honed in BATUS, set over a number of demanding exercises and operations. Readiness was
a key theme throughout the year, with responsibility for Op TEMPERER (support
to UK counter-terrorism) and a short notice deployment on Ex TRACTABLE (a readiness test exercise) in Feb, illustrating the capability and appetite of the Company to ‘get the job done’. Latterly, deployment to Ukraine as the Infantry Short Term Training Team on Op ORBITAL proved to be a fantastic challenge.
scenario. This proved to be the ideal time
to experiment and build confidence in
the crews whilst conducting operations
at tempo and against a significant enemy threat. The importance of getting the basics right, with regard to moving, communicating and fighting – each and every time – was fully ingrained.
Before long, the bulk of the Company deployed to the remote Welsh village
of Castlemartin to take part in the Bn Gunnery camp and had some long days of outstanding range practices. All troops worked extremely hard during the live firing events; this was demonstrated by the rapid improvement in accuracy and
One highlight of early 2016 was the selection of the Company to provide the Armoured Infantry sub-unit for
All troops worked extremely hard during the live firing events...
confidence; illustrated by the performances within the Close Quarter Marksmanship Battle lane and the Underslung Grenade Launcher test. The gunnery camp was not all work, with troops eagerly taking part in go-karting, surfing, rock
Ex LIONS STRIKE
(the Coy Comd (Des)
course). This was a
great opportunity for
the Company to ‘roll-out’ en-masse and conduct some complex soldiering in both our Dismounted and Mounted roles. The culmination of this exercise was a rapid Armoured exploitation, kilometres of FIWAF followed by an assault into Imber Village. This also served as the perfect handover for the Officer Commanding, with Maj Blackhurst grinning with pride after the Company flawlessly performed task after task.
The trust placed in the Company to successfully execute the most demanding tasks was well deserved. The responsibility for the prestigious Brigade Operational Shooting Competition was ours alone,
and other than putting on an extraordinary spread for the Brigade Teams, we were delighted to see Pte Hope dominate the LSW Machine Gun shoot.
Late Spring went by at pace, with the shooting rapidly followed by two weeks in Tactical Training simulators executing BG plans within a synthetic operational
climbing, cycling and coastal hill-walking, in addition to a variety of sports.
Thereafter, all of the experience and hard won lessons from previous deployment were consolidated in support of a worthy cause: Op ORBITAL (the provision of Infantry specific training to the Ukrainian Armed Forces). When grizzled veterans of campaigning repeatedly exclaim: “this is the best thing I have done in the Army” – you know that what they are accomplishing is worthwhile. Ukrainian troops are genuinely eager to learn, place their trust in our men to help them prepare and are especially willing to engage in banter. The teams
have been able to nurture and develop the Ukrainians into groups better able to face their Separatist opponents. Obversely, we picked up a few valuable lessons as well.
In addition to the great work done by all, there are a number of notable congratulations that must be mentioned for posterity. First amongst these are Ptes Otter and Miah
who were awarded Commendations for assistance to a casualty. Secondly, the following received sincere thanks from
the Company for their efforts and have been posted outside the Bn: Maj Blackhurst, CSgt Harris, Sgt Cornbill, Cpl Heaton and LCpl Johnson. Finally, Sgt Collins and Cpl Grimmer were both recognised for their outstanding work on Op ORBITAL with respective commendations from the Ukrainian Defence Minister and Commander Field Army. In sum: another brilliant year.
OC
2IC
CSM WSM CQMS (M)
CQMS (T)
Major Andy Ryan Lt Andy Cole WO2 Mcnulty WO2 Cook
CSgt Harris / CSgt Miller
CSgt Foster
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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