Page 18 - Bugle Issue 19 Spring 2022

2 RIFLES
Surviving in the Kenyan Bush
Following Exercise ASKARI STORM, we got a chance to have a go at Survive, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training. SERE training is extremely important
and every solider should have a good understanding of it should it ever be needed while on operations, on our package we covered a few lessons.
We learned to kill and butcher an animal to get the nutrition to survive. This was done with a goat, watching, and learning from the staff and the local Kenyans on how to kill it, remove the skin and internal organs and finally how to cook it. It was the first time I had ever seen anything like it and the first time that most
of us had eaten any meat that we had killed ourselves.
We then moved onto our second
lesson: unarmed combat. Firstly, we had demonstrations from the staff about the
basic stances, before finding a partner and using the techniques we had been shown. Unarmed combat is not about causing an extreme amount of pain to the opponent but more about using the minimum necessary force to defuse the situation or buy yourself more time for support to turn up or even to be able to extract. It was my first in-depth look at unarmed combat, and it was something I hope we do more of in the future. Once we had all tried the manoeuvres and techniques on our partners, we covered the theory of tactical questioning and how to manage yourself in the situation which we found ourselves in later that night.
Next, we learned about ground awareness. There were multiple tasks set up by the instructor where you follow a lane and observe all the changes to the ground. It
was down to the detail of how the weight of kit being carried by the person alters the imprint of their footprints. Techniques like 5-20s are tried and tested aides to ground
sign awareness, and we had to utilise them throughout. During the lane there were either very small changes such as the ground having foot powder on the floor, to rounds, smoke grenades, blood and first aid supplies such as tourniquets and Emergency Care Bandages (ECBs) lying about. At the end we gave a back-brief on what we thought had happened on the lane.
Finally, getting into the main part of the SERE package to test our learning, we were contacted during the night. We had to reach our designated Emergency Rendezvous
(ERV) whilst avoiding the Hunter Force. After two hours of tactical movement to the ERV,
we were picked up and returned to friendly territory. However, while we were on the
drive to safety our vehicle was captured by
the Hunter Force. We were blindfolded and cuffed and brought into a room. Here there was some physical and mental stress. During the next few hours, we underwent tactical questioning and a gentle introduction to what stress positions can be used against us by enemies. It was a great adrenaline rush and allowed us to prove our new taught skills such as breaking out of cable ties and everyone
as a collective sticking with a cover story. At times it was difficult as there’s constant mind- games making you question your own story and pushing you to tell the true story, which you most definitely want to avoid. After three hours of vigorous physical and mental strain we came to the end which was a great relief.
C Company had performed very well which proved that everyone had taken the lessons on board and learned a lot about themselves as individuals and the teams, they work in. It was a great experience, and I would encourage more time dedicated to SERE training, as not only was it a fantastic experience but also is an often-overlooked skill within the army.
Rfn Finnegan, C Coy, 2 RIFLES
Nordic Skiing
Three tired young Rfn steal themselves ready to resist tactical questioning
18 RIFLES The Bugle
Riflemen from 2 RIFLES swapped the blazing sun of Archer’s Roast/Post in Kenya for the noticeably cooler climate of Sweden as the Nordic Ski Team formed for the first time in several years. Arriving in temperatures of -19C, we quickly learned the two techniques of Nordic ski: ‘skate’ and ‘classic’. Thrown in the deep end (we arrived several weeks late into the training camp than our fellow infantrymen), our Riflemen rose to the challenge. With two race days looming, we had less than a fortnight to master both Nordic ski disciplines and master our new .22 Anschutz biathlon rifles.
Our first race was a Nordic field biathlon: the Nordic equivalent of a march and shoot. Competing in a 4x 7.5km relay, we had to hit targets the size of a Vaseline tub at 50m between laps from both the prone and standing positions, with additional punishment loops awarded for each target missed. Despite somewhat handicapped by the comparative short time spent on skis and in weapon husbandry, both our teams of four gave it their utmost and succeeded in achieving the main effort: “we will all finish, and we will not come last.”
Our Riflemen had no chance to revel in our success, however. With only two days separating races, our team had only four hours of instruction to learn the ‘classic’ discipline, this time competing against multiple other infantry cap-badges on a 15km course. Once again, the grit and physical fitness of our Riflemen was apparent with brilliant individual performances. Of note
Cpl Bird and Rfn Stanislaus’s middle-of-the-pack finishes; an exceptional achievement after only four hours spent on skis and done so against skiers with weeks of advantage in instruction.
Our sights are now set on the next phase of the season, the Infantry Championships in Bessans, France, where the team expects to continue to impress.
Capt Fred Montane-Willis, 2 RIFLES Team Captain