Page 18 - Mercian Eagle 2016

7 Pl Comd 7 Pl Sgt
7 Pl Wr Sgt
Lt L B Mead Sgt Massey Sgt Sinclair
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7 Platoon
Upon returning from BATUS in late 2015, 7 Platoon and C Coy as a whole have
had an extremely eventful year. Training continued in earnest with a focus being on maintaining our combat effectiveness as
a Battle Group in light of our year at high readiness.
Many members of 7 Platoon continued to develop and build on their armoured infantry qualifications. Ptes Hubble, Clarke and Young were amongst a large cohort who undertook the Warrior Gunner course whilst Ptes Harding, Otter and Lee conducted Warrior Driving courses. In addition to
this, soldiers have had the opportunity to develop their light role skills by deploying on Ex LIONS STRIKE, CT2 and a public order training week practicing in dealing with complex environments.
Over the course of the training year
7 Platoon has had several stand-out sporting achievements: Pte Bradley has represented C Company at the Battalion boxing; whilst LCpl Jones has represented the Battalion in cross country and in the Warrior Fitness Championships. Lt Mead captained the shooting team, which included LCpl Stringer and Pte Hope, the latter whom earned himself a commendation for the
best shot in the Machine Gun Shoot and subsequently transferred to Sniper Platoon. Qualifying through Battalion, Brigade and Division level shooting competitions, the
1 MERCIAN shooting team competed at the Army Championships at Bisley for the first time in two years.
7 Platoon have utilised their training to sustain and maximise their operational capability, which has allowed us to deploy
Over the course of the training year 7 Platoon has had several stand-out sporting achievements
Public order
to the Ukraine on Op Orbital, a commitment that C Company took over in summer
2016 and have held until Christmas. Op ORBITAL has seen soldiers of all ranks deploy in order to help train the Ukrainian army, utilising the extensive knowledge and experience of Sgt Massey, as well as Cpl Hare, LCpl Stringer and a myriad of Pte soldiers as demonstration troops. Ukrainian personnel benefitted from learning from
7 Platoon, and the opportunity enabled
our junior soldiers to develop their skills through constant repetition. In addition to this, 7 Platoon took part in a range package at Castlemartin Gunnery Camp in July in
order to qualify Warrior crews. This resulted in highly respectable scores on our annual crew tests, cementing our ability as a highly capable Armd Infantry platoon.
7 Platoon also provided Ptes Clarke, Lee and Stone to deploy on Op FIRIC, a 6-week commitment in the Falkland Islands. During this, Pte Clarke stood out as an outstanding junior leader, often stepping up to the role of Section 2IC despite his relative lack of seniority. Pte Clarke’s performance rightfully earned him a personal commendation from the Commanding Officer and the chance to fire an Anti-Armour weapon.
In addition to the large amount of training we have accomplished, we have seen several promotions earlier in the year including LCpl Theron and LCpl Bellamy, whom we had to say farewell to as they transferred to Dragon Coy. A final note of congratulation goes to Pte Stone who had his first baby, Mia, this year.
Christmas 2015
Shooting team
THE MERCIAN EAGLE