Page 47 - MERCIAN Eagle 2019

B (Malta) Company
Maj Benjamin Smyth
Upon writing this, my first contribution
as OC B (Malta) Company having taken over from Major James Ballard, I reflect
on what the Company has achieved over the year. It is hard to imagine a busier
year, but I sense 2020 may surpass it!
The focus of this year has been: delivering operational excellence in Cyprus, focusing on developing our warfighting capability in preparation for Lead Company Group of the Regional Standby Battalion, and enjoying the opportunities Cyprus has to offer. All this whilst navigating a challenging manning situation that is starting to look much better.
Undeniably, the Company has excelled, and this is all down to the extraordinary efforts of the officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers who have shown tremendous grit and, like always, just made it happen. I am always humbled
by how much our soldiers, not forgetting their families, sacrifice to fulfil our
heavy commitments, always meeting
the challenge with humility and good spirits. The pace of life can be relentless, simultaneously executing, preparing for the next, and then moving onto the next task without reprieve.
The year began with our first of two stints
uncompromising professionalism and worked hard to use the opportunity to prepare for upcoming field exercises.
The focus of our training in 2019 has been two validation events, Ex EAGLES UNREST and Ex AETOS FURY, which were a public order and conventional warfighting exercise respectively. The two enduring memories will be: the surprise of OC D (Dragon) Company hosing down the troops during public order validation, making the long advance up Troodos Mountain in public order kit significantly more difficult; and having bet the soldiers
a few crates of the local
brew, clearing Paramali
Village in a record 53
mins. They say an Army
marches on its stomach
- it appears that Malta
attack with an insatiable
thirst!
Maj Ballard departing the company
an urban operations training package
to our Kuwaiti allies, conducted joint training with the US Army, and completed a live fire tactical training package up to platoon attacks by night. This was a great opportunity to empower and improve
our more junior soldiers, getting them
to deliver original and imaginative urban operations lessons. The training with the US Army was focused on our upcoming LCG task, covering the full spectrum of war, from humanitarian relief, cordon and search, and deliberated attacks with our
US allies. As if we weren’t busy enough, we hosted a royal visit of Prince William and had the opportunity
to demonstrate our success with the Kuwaitis. His Majesty was clearly impressed and the troops rightly proud of what they had achieved.
As the year draws to a close and the troops look forward to some well-earned Christmas leave, I’m immensely proud of what they have achieved. It is no
It hasn’t been all
work, the troops
enjoyed an opportunity
to conduct various adventurous training courses throughout the UK, from mountaineering to sailing. In addition, the troops have enjoyed Cyprus and organised
we hosted a royal visit of Prince William and had the opportunity to demonstrate our success with the Kuwaitis
protecting key infrastructure, no task our soldiers will complete will be more strategically important. The soldiers approached
the task with
their own mini activities - from a battlefield tour of Cyprus, to cliff diving, to the
waterpark.
The crescendo of the year was
Ex DESERT WARRIOR 3, a Defence engagement exercise to develop
relationships with the Kuwaiti Land Forces. In 3 weeks,
the Company delivered
coincidence that, at the time of writing,
the Company is in a favourable position to win Champion Company and we eagerly await the results at the Ferozeshah Day Parade. No matter the result, the Company has improved tremendously throughout
the year and are now well set to meet the challenges of RSB and a unit move back to the UK.
LFTT at Pyla Ranges
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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