Page 86 - MERCIAN Eagle 2015

Company Recruiting Team – Creating the Future
Sgt Gordon Hardy, C Company, RRMT SNCO
2015 has been a busy period of recruiting, mentoring and training, to keep C Company on track with the Army 2020’s schedule.
It’s the job of the Company’s Regimental Recruiting & Mentoring Team (RRMT) to ensure C Company has that fresh infusion of new blood to move forward.
The surprising factor has not been C (Kohima) Company’s recent success in this area, but the diversity of the applicants. From fresh-faced 18 year olds, to the more mature applicant, the recruits all have the same ambition – joining a reserve infantry company. The Company now has a teacher, policewoman and a union rep from Tesco’s amongst its diverse numbers, adding to the overall life experience of the Company.
In line with keeping The Mercians in
the public eye, C Company has been
busy with recruiting events, both small
and large around the Nottinghamshire / Derbyshire area demonstrating the benefits and variety of life you get in the Reserves. Earlier this year Pte Jodie Dawes received a commendation from the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire for her outstanding services to the Company, a tremendous reward for all her hard work and effort put into help push the recruits and Company forward. We also had Sgt Hardy, who was previously part of 2 MERCIAN, join the recruiting team bringing fresh ideas to the table and adding to the overall experience of the Company.
The Company’s RRMT team is first
and foremost used to endorse recruits and train potential candidates to the highest standards possible and despite the increased volume of people coming through the gates, we manage to achieve this by having clearly defined roles within the team from paper work to kit checks; everyone has an important role to play. Throwing some fun activities in to the mix to keep the potential candidates interested and keen on joining the reserves is crucial.
Throwing some fun activities in to the mix to keep the potential candidates interested and keen on joining the reserves is crucial
With the Company conducting Adventure Training in August 2015 it was a good opportunity for the recruits to enjoy a break in training and develop their skills in a way outside of recruit training.
As a Company we have seen over
70 candidates go through the recruiting process this year, all at various stages. With
recruits attending TSC (A) a 4 weekend course and then TSC (B) a 2 week consolidated course to become a trained soldier, before moving onto complete the Combat Infantryman’s Course (CIC) at Catterick. This has seen our two latest fully trained soldiers (Pte Davison & Pte Munro) join the ranks of the Company’s main Rifle Platoon, Badajoz Platoon.
Three of the training team have previous experience working in training depots, and Sgt Hardy has also worked at the selection centre at Lichfield, this in turn provides
the team with a good knowledge of the standard required at both selection and phase 1/2 of training.
Due to the time of flight between first visit and selection dates we here at C Coy have introduced a “Gucci” lesson into the drill night every few weeks to give the applicants an insight into the more exciting aspects of Infantry fieldcraft.
With an indefatigable schedule for recruiting, the size of C Company will continue to grow, in tandem with a sensible retention plan; this will hopefully reflect the size of the recruiting area we operate in.
The Company continues its steady flow of Ex-Regulars joining its ranks, this has included most recently LCpl Wright, formally part of PWRR, who has finished a Close
RRMT Comd RRMT SNCO
RRMT JNCO RRMT Clerk
WO2 Mark Walker Sgt Gordon Hardy Sgt Neil Orton
Cpl Mark Henshaw Pte Jodie Dawes
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A Reservist’s View on the Regular Platoon Commanders’ Battle Course 2Lt Seb Sansom, Platoon Commander, C (Kohima) Company
There is a myth that surrounds Brecon. Every Infantry Platoon Commander has
to complete the course, and yet it is often portrayed as a gargantuan task, completed by few, and one that leaves many broken by the way side. It was into this world that I volunteered. My motivation behind wanting to do the full regular course revolved around a number of factors, but perhaps foremost was wanting to see if I really was capable
of completing the course. I had a number
of reservations over attending the course though. At a time when the army is pushing integration of regular and reserve units under Army 2020, there are many who still feel that an atmosphere pervades of, ‘Us and Them’. When working round a full time job, few get the time off to complete training courses that the regulars can, and the amount of training a reservist will complete is comparatively low when compared to their regular counterparts.
The regular course comprises of 11 1⁄2 weeks, broken down into different
exercises, each designed to build on knowledge already gained from Sandhurst, and teach the tactics of being an infanteer. Sandhurst says it uses the infantry attack as a model to teach leadership, and it is not there to test tactics. Brecon IS there to test tactics. The course is progressive, with the first week largely lecture based, with a view to learning the doctrine required to conduct successful offensive operations. This is combined with a thorough immersion in the world of night fighting, and the use of FIST (Future Integrated Soldier Technology) to enhance a soldiers senses and allow them to operate at night and during the day with a technological edge. It then moves on to
a defensive exercise, urban operations, various tests and finally the FTX.
Initially, this presented a steep learning curve for myself, and despite warnings of how steep this curve would be by other Officers in my Battalion, I felt at times
a little overwhelmed by the information thrown at us. Much of the material covered
was revision for the regulars around me, where Sandhurst had taught them all the nuances of completing a STAP, building a platoon defensive position and more. For me, where Sandhurst had been a Platoon Sergeant appointment and the recce of an ambush site, I felt I had some considerable catching up to do. I did however have one slight advantage. Having already spent time at 4 MERCIAN, and with much of
the equipment used by the battle school having recently arrived, I already had a firm grasp on the capabilities of much of the equipment. Exercise BRACED EAGLE, during the previous November, though also a very steep learning curve, had also helped set me up for success by giving me a solid insight into the role of the platoon commander, mainly during the attack. Our integration with our regular counterpart battalion had provided a knowledge base from which to extract as much information as possible, which provided great help. The Offensive week also had a fire power
THE MERCIAN EAGLE