Page 36 - Bugle Spring 2023

6 RIFLES
OP UNITY
6 RIFLES’ Support to the 2022 Commonwealth Games
In early July 6 RIFLES mobilised 84 troops for just over a month in support of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Drawing from the three Reserve RIFLES Battalions and other attachments, the unit deployed a Company-strength grouping to provide the military security team for the Alexander Stadium, the site of the opening and closing ceremony of the games and the athletics.
Operation UNITY represented the military assistance to the West Midlands Police
GOLD command, who were responsible for
the security of the games, with our task- group (TG North) responsible for providing military security to the Alexander Stadium
in partnership with the civilian security contractor, OCS Security. ‘The Alex,’ as the
most high-profile venue in the Games, played host to hundreds of world-class athletes and celebrities, as well as spectators numbering
in the tens of thousands, creating an electric atmosphere as well as some excellent opportunities for troops to watch elite sports in their downtime.
TG North benefited immediately from forming a strong rapport with the OCS Operations Managers and Police CT leads, who saw the utility of using uniformed military staff as X-Ray operators and Personnel Search leads. There was a clear and positive response from spectators to military staff, and there were often instances where difficulties were smoothed over between civilian security contractors and spectators by a Rifleman stepping in as a ‘cheeky squaddie’ and defusing tensions!
As well as our primary task of securing
the Alexander Stadium, TG North also had
the privilege of being surged to other venues to assist the other task-groups. This saw us detaching a platoon to London to provide security for the velodrome, surging the entire Company to the NEC to provide searchers and perimeter guards, and taking over the day shift for search lanes at Coventry Stadium, the Rugby venue which was being secured by a task-group from 1 RIFLES. In a first for a MACA tasking, this saw a Reserve Unit step-up to relieve our paired Regular Unit to allow them to re-task and rehabilitate after a demanding shift pattern. This set the stage for our support to 1 RIFLES on Ex ASKARI STORM later in the year.
there were often instances where difficulties were smoothed over
by a Rifleman stepping in as a ‘cheeky squaddie’ and defusing tensions!
36 RIFLES The Bugle