Page 92 - Mercian Eagle 2013

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took charge of training, bringing in basic
PO foot drill, vehicle involvement and back up. This culminated in them taking a control of a full scale PO situation involving petrol bombs and bricks.
On the lighter side, they also had to train as pool life guards...
some sadness too. As a company we are leaving some friends in
4 MERCIAN, who have looked after us well. As a Shropshire based OC, from Somerset, that did result in my father (Ex SCLI) poking me in the chest.
Operations and Training
Training for that deployment was long and meticulous, as you would expect. The training largely involved the usual infantry
skills, sprinkled with a large dose of public order training. Several members of the Company went to Northern Ireland on the Public Order (PO) Instructors Course, and came back with the bruises to prove it too. The SPSI (WO2 Coxon) and the Bn PO Instructors then
On the lighter
side, they also had to train as pool life guards, as this Public Order Company working with the UN also looks after the Garrison swimming pools. A betting man would put money on which skills they are most likely to use, he says...
Capt Kaye is also the Regt Adventure Training Officer in Cyprus too, so, as you would expect, many are taking the opportunity to get some good AT and qualifications out of this. E Coy may well have its own diving club shortly!
A large proportion of the Company has also just returned from Italy where they took part in Ex ROMAN STAR, which involved
a large exercise with the Italians and their Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs). Prior to starting the exercise, they were promised helicopters and fast air to play with, but in true style, they did the Italian equivalent of a ‘Heli-Beford’. The exercise went very well, with a large time spent in the field, attacking and blowing things up. The Operations in Built up Areas (OBUA), Platoon and Company Attack skills were most definitely honed in the time there.
The Company has also formed a large part of the 4 MERCIAN team sent to Short Term Training Team (STTT) in Uganda to train the Ugandans about to enter Somalia. Capt Mahoney, WO2 Coxon
THE MERCIAN EAGLE