Page 34 - Bugle Issue 20 Autumn 2022

5 RIFLES
HRH the Countess of Wessex and her Officers
Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex visited 5 RIFLES on a bright, warm, spring day in March.
Resplendent in a white blazer with RIFLES broach, she received a brief on what her battalion had been up to over the last six months, presented Riflemen with honours and awards, met with families, and
had lunch with 10 of her Riflemen in the Serjeants’ Mess.
No Royal visit would be complete without a Mess photo (as Maj Chalky White, OC HQ Coy continually reminded the Battalion Headquarters) and this visit was no different. The flagrant disregard of dress regulations brought a swift rebuke
from Regimental Headquarters, with the Adjutant, Capt Nathan Flye, given remedial dress regulation lessons. That said, everyone does look rather smart. Perhaps a change is in the offing...
Capt Flye
No Royal visit
would be complete without a Mess photo
Ex DEFENDER EUROPE
2 Platoon, A Company, deployed on Ex DEFENDER EUROPE 22 as Task Force Hannibal, alongside C Sqn QRH.
The exercise was a Combined Arms effort to build preparedness and interoperability between NATO Allies, alongside proving
our ability to deploy armour to Eastern Europe. With our Land Rovers, Warriors
and Challengers denoting BDRM’s, BMP-3’s and T-90’s we were tasked with testing and challenging the KRH Battlegroup across the Drawsko Pomorskie training area (DPTA) in Poland.
We completed the Threat Tactics Course (TTC), which was a week of training to think as the adversary, moving away from the British doctrine. These ROC drills allowed us to grasp the increased artillery and mass we could mobilise, whilst using third party actors to cause effect in the ‘grey zone.’ Shortly after,
the advance party left for Normandy Barracks, Sennelager to take control of the fleet for
the coming months. A nostalgic visit for the few who had served in Paderborn prior to
5 RIFLES’ return to the UK, and we were not short of ideas for team building activities in the margins of vehicle handovers. The highlight,
34 RIFLES The Bugle
perhaps surprisingly, was not our tour of the local breweries but the day mountain biking in Winterberg organised by Cpl Price, a member of the Infantry Mountain Biking team. One of the largest resorts in Europe, the first success of the Exercise was having everyone return without any major injuries.
In May the main body flew to DPTA to
begin preparation for the KRH’s certification exercise. Our focus during the first week was platoon level BCS. This was a great chance for 2 Platoon to re-visit the basics of soldiering and operating from a Warrior, with the Section Commanders organising a stalk-lane for the QRH and RIFLES. Cpl Hyland, meanwhile, focused on the differences between live cam and cam-nets, comparing both the visual and thermal benefits of both. This gave a strong grounding in survivability to the platoon before deploying on certification phase.
The final phase began with the issuing
of blue uniforms and area recces before
our advance against the blue forces. Acting
as per the TTC, we immediately deployed a small team of Special Purpose Forces (SPF) in civilian clothing to operate behind enemy lines and conduct harassing activity. They delivered
2Pl adorned in their TF Hannibal uniforms
to great effect. Within the first 6 hours, two blue force recce call-signs were captured, the KRH net compromised, and one Mastiff was removed from the fight. This occurred in the margins of conventional actions. As Task Force Hannibal we were able to provide the battlegroup with a vast array of challenges to consider and counter, creating a level
of realism they may not otherwise face in training. The culmination of this deployment saw 2 Platoon return to the UK via Sennelager before their upcoming deployment on Chosen Man in Brecon.
Lt Hamilton, A Coy
A nostalgic visit for the few who had served in Paderborn
ROYAL COLONEL VISIT