Page 64 - MERCIAN Eagle 2015

View from a Soldier Pte Martin
Op TOSCA was a very political tour, where saying the wrong thing to someone could lead into something bigger. Everyone was well prepared for the tour, so each man knew what to do and say at the right times. When everything was quiet, the NCOs planned lessons for us to improve on skills and drills. Fitness was a big thing in Cyprus, so there was a lot of it. We trained hard every day, building up for Army fitness tests.
I attended a JNCO Cadre after Cyprus for eight weeks. This was very challenging, but I learnt many new skills to prepare me
for my future in the Army. We started the course in Scotland and stayed there for five weeks, carrying out exercises, map reading tests and command and leadership training. After this phase was done, we moved to Otterburn for the following three weeks, where we went straight into our final exercise for 10 days. It
was a very tough exercise, but I am glad I have done it for the experience and knowledge.
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Section Commanders perspectives of the MFR Cpl Ross & Cpl Murphy
On arriving in Cyprus, we had the typical briefs; where not to go, what not to do and how not to act. Then it was straight into the rotation between security and
ops weeks. Security week consisted of day on/day off guard in Blue Beret Camp (BBC), ensuring that the gates to the UN Protected Area (UNPA) were manned
and rotated through at all times, and that regular patrols were conducted around the UNPA. Of course the most important job of the Guard Commander during security week was ensuring that the newspapers were delivered on time and to the relevant people, a task that became the bane of many people’s lives, but at least now when I get out of the Army I can put “Newspaper Delivery Boy” on my CV.
As the Mobile Force Reserve, we were to be ready to move for any incident in the buffer zone. We could be crashed out to any of the three UN sectors across the island, and were at two hours ‘notice to move’ for the whole tour.
Fortunately, there were not many times that 8 Platoon were called out (whoever was kicking off must have timed it with when
7 platoon were on ops week). However, there was a lot of the usual on the bus/
off the bus i.e. getting stood up only to get stood down once we were good to go. It would be good to say that the lads were happy with this and no moaning took place whatsoever, however there’s a reason why LCpl Edwards-Try gained the nickname “Edwards-Cry”.
Argentinian forces made up the bulk
of Sector One, Sector 2 was British
(2 MERCIAN) and Sector 4 was made up of several countries (including Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia and Croatia).
Where we stayed was very basic, but the men each got their own room with Wi-Fi access as well as air conditioning. There were a couple of shops located in the camp, including a barber, tailors and rental shop. There was also a small café which the blokes used frequently. Accommodation was part of the UN Protected Area (UNPA), with an Olympic sized swimming pool allowing for relaxation time, and Nicosia on our door step for easy access to the shops and nightlife.
Op Tosca was slow moving, and there was lots of time to adventure around Cyprus and explore the island. When in work we conducted UN training, but we also maintained our conventional skills.
Prominent activities to keep us on our toes were regular, including the UN Military Skills Competition where we came second, and completing all Operational Fitness Tests helping to maintain the men’s battle fitness.
There was also much opportunity for adventure training, including: kayaking, mountain biking, climbing and sky diving. The AT was extremely good, and was enjoyed by most of blokes. It was a nice week away from day-to-day work, also giving the lads time to see Cyprus and experience new training.
For us, the most challenging, but also probably the most interesting aspect of
the tour, was working with other nations. We have worked with many different nationalities during our careers, but not
as closely as with the Argentines, Slovaks and Hungarians on this tour. Fortunately,
a lot of the Slovaks and Hungarians could speak good English, but the Argentines English was not as good (though in all fairness their English was better than our Spanish). To get round this problem there was a lot of translating, mainly through LCpl Edwards-Try who could speak fluent Spanish, a lot of use of Google Translate on people’s phones, and failing that, a lot of hand gestures until the general point was put across.
Some people (as per the norm) attempted “Op Massive” in the gym (with varied results), whilst others preferred to go into Nicosia for the day and there were occasional welfare trips planned as platoon outings, where we could travel to other towns and cultural places across both the southern and northern parts of the island. Other activities were organised to fill the time, such as quiz nights, Spanish lessons and a comedian / singer show in Ledra Palace Hotel.
A well-deserved mention goes to Capt Riordan, Lt Brown, Sgt Atherton, Cpl Tivey, Cpl Murphy, LCpl Edwards-Try & members of B Coy for completing the grueling Cyprus Marathon in Paphos on 8th March, in temperatures in excess of 30oC (the same week that Kohima completed OFT 6).
As the tour had been fairly quiet, education courses were held at Ledra Palace Hotel in Sector 2, as well as Team Medic and Basic Radio User courses.
I (Cpl Murphy) conducted a two-week Range Management Qualification course in Episkopi. Subsequently, supervising and observing other nations ‘drills’ on the 25m Range within the UN always made for a interesting experience!
Looking back at the tour, it has been a good experience, though the strong UN focus on the ‘illegal growing of asparagus’ was always a difficult one to sell! We look forward to Kenya later in the year, where we can get back to ‘green’ soldiering.
Cpl Murphy, Photo 1, From (L-R): Capt Riordan, Sgt Atherton, Lt Brown, Cpl Murphy, LCpl Edwards- Try & Cpl Tivey after completing the Cyprus Marathon in Paphos, Paphos, Cyprus, Mar 2015.
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