Page 24 - MERCIAN Eagle 2017

Pl Comd Pl 2IC
Pl Sgt
Capt O Elliott CSgt D Street Sgt D Lawrence
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Recce Platoon Report to the Mercian Eagle
2017 has been a strong year for
1 MERCIAN’s Recce Platoon. We have supported training for 12 Brigade out
in Canada, we won a Gold Medal in
the Cambrian Patrol Exercise and have supported the Army with Sustainable Support to Experimentation and Training.
I took over the Platoon back in March 2017 and was gifted a very strong Platoon by their outgoing Platoon Commander, Capt Jim McNeil. The greatest thing about the Platoon, which I noticed
as soon as I met them,
was their strong team
spirit and a work ethic
that means that no job
is too tough for them.
destroy the enemy. Over the course of three weeks on the Prairie the Platoon fought eleven missions against the Royal Welsh in total.
After some hard-fought victories, the Platoon was granted two weeks stand down and had the opportunity to enjoy some of the attractions of North America. Most of the Platoon seized this opportunity to visit some of the towns, cities and sights around Canada including Vancouver, Bamff,
brethren in the Kings Division and there was a fair amount of jostling to prove who is the top Armoured Battle Group in the Division.
I think the judge’s scorecard finished in our favour.
Upon return from Summer leave the Platoon went straight into preparations for the Cambrian Patrol which you can read about in a separate article.
Towards the end of the year the Platoon provided support to Exercises which the rest of the Army were conducting and gave us an opportunity to show the rest of the Army how professional the soldiers of 1 MERCIAN’s Recce Platoon are.
We’re looking forward to 2018 and all the new challenges and opportunities that it will bring for the Battalion’s elite Platoon.
Members of the Recce Platoon enjoying their stand down in the Rocky Mountains. From left to right: Cpl Sam Wilson, LCpl Jake Bothamley, LCpl Chris Bellamy, Pte Eric Gilliver, LCpl Tristan Willis, Cpl Tom Lander, Sgt Dan Lawrence, Cpl Mark Kirton
A Landover races into action to get down to the business of finding the enemy
March and Early April
were spent preparing
the Platoon for our
deployment to BATUS
where we would be
playing the part of the
‘Donovian’ Recce Coy. In May the Platoon flew out to Canada and deployed onto the Prairie in BATUS to prepare for our first scrap of the summer which was going to be against the Royal Welsh. The Platoon had to adapt to the Donovian tactics of Recce by Force rather than the British tactics of Recce by stealth. Rather than just spotting the enemy and reporting what they had seen, the Platoon had offensive assets which they could call upon to immediately
Soldiers from the Recce and Sniper Pls who made up the ‘Finder Coy’ of the 4/804 BDET of the Donovian Armed Forces in Canada in the summer
Calgary, Toronto and many more. Different members of the Platoon went hiking, bungee jumping, rented scooters, visited the Rocky Mountains and got involved in plenty
of team bonding activities. These sorts of adventurous activities are exactly why most
of us joined the Army and I’m sure most members of the Platoon will look back very fondly upon their stand down in Canada.
Our second bout of the summer was with the Yorkshire Regiment, our new regimental
A ‘Donovian’ Sniper bounces across the Prairie on his quad bike
‘The Platoon had to adapt to the Donovian tactics of Recce by Force rather than the British tactics of Recce by stealth’
THE MERCIAN EAGLE