Page 26 - Bugle Spring 2023

4 RANGER
G Company Ranger Advanced Urban Course
Throughout November, G Company undertook the Ranger Advanced Urban Combat Course (RAUCC), which saw
48 students participate in a 3-week advanced urban skills package. Led by a team of US Green Beret instructors from Bravo Coy, 3rd Bn, US 5th Special Forces (Airborne) Group, as well as UK instructors headed up by Sjt Purcell-Lee. The course was the latest iteration of the US-led urban combat training to the Ranger Regiment.
The course started at Hythe ranges, with an advanced shooting package, building
to a testing ‘stress shoot’ on the Friday. Consisting of a wide range of both day and night rifle and pistol shoots, the week was honed towards individual marksmanship
in a CQB environment. The instruction provided was exceptional, serving to greatly reduce group sizes by the end of the week.
The second week built on the skills the students had learnt in week one, using the
excellent urban facility at RAF Honnington. The instructors took us from simple room clearance up to complex multi-room scenarios. US CQB tactics differed to what we had become accustomed to but offered useful lessons that could certainly be incorporated into future planning. With our low-level skills and tactics developed, we spent the final week on Salisbury Plain.
The first two days were spent in the abandoned nuclear bunker at Corsham Tunnels, testing our ability to conduct multi-cell actions in a dark and complex environment. Command and control would swiftly be lost in the darkness as soon as the Line of Departure had been crossed, making low-level initiative and control measures indispensable. The course progressed with a series of raids across Salisbury Plain testing everything we had learnt.
During the planning phase of each action, the Green Berets shared their
US CQB tactics differed
to what we had become accustomed to but offered useful lessons
experiences of enabling similar operations during recent tours of the Middle East. Of particular note were the measures they took to manage and layer assets before, during and immediately after an operation. Exposure to such lessons were invaluable in shaping how we will approach planning in the future. The course culminated with an attack
on a large urban complex nearby New Normandy Barracks. The speed and precision by which such a large objective was secured was a testament to our development and the quality of tuition.
G Company is hugely appreciative of the support that the members of Bravo Company, 3rd Bn, US 5th Special Forces (Airborne) Group offered to deliver a fantastic training package.
Captain James Howlett
Team Commander
G Coy Rangers stack up
G Coy at endex
26 RIFLES The Bugle