Page 44 - Bugle Spring 2023

7 RIFLES
Ex NORTHERN STRIKE
AUGUST 2022
It was a brisk morning when the combined forces of 7, 5 and 6 RIFLES, 4 MERCIAN and 2 R IRISH, who made up Salamanca Company, boarded the coaches to Brize Norton. Their destination; Camp Grayling, Michigan, USA. Here, the members of Salamanca Company would complete a robust Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration (RSOI) package focused on Live Fire Tactical Training (LFTT) before deploying onto the ground, alongside their American counterparts from 125th Infantry Brigade, Michigan National Guard, to take part in a multi-national interoperability exercise - Exercise NORTHERN STRIKE.
For the 125th, this exercise was doubling
as their pre-deployment training before their operation to Northern Iraq and Syria. For Salamanca Company, it presented an excellent opportunity to work alongside our American counterparts in an unfamiliar terrain and climate.
Touching down in Detroit, Salamanca Company was thrown straight into the training cycle of the RSOI - dropping kit and heading straight out onto the ranges, which was a humid, 5km march out of the back gate of the camp. The RSOI package saw the platoons progress from grouping and zeroing, to individual fire and manoeuvre, fire-team attacks, and finally live section attacks over a 4-day period.
Outside of the LFTT, the platoons developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
and practised urban training, during which
each of the platoons learned the basics
of urban operations at the Michigan Skills House and conducted room clearance
drills with “Simunition” (non-lethal training ammunition). Though condensed, this four-day RSOI package was a good opportunity for
the platoons to start working together. The hours spent perfecting urban drills through numerous run-throughs helped to develop the low-level skills and drills of the Riflemen and
bonded the sections together. Importantly, the march to the ranges each morning enabled the company to get used to the surprisingly sandy terrain of Michigan’s training area - although the evening blister clinic was soon busy!
Once the RSOI package was complete, the Company had a sharp turn around to prepare to deploy into the field to begin the exercise alongside the 125th. This interoperability exercise would see the Company operating in its own offensive corridors before coming together with the 125th for a large defensive action towards the end of the exercise.
After a quick supply run from the local
PX and the Rehearsal of Concept (ROC)
drill, the Company was ready! Deploying via Chinook, the troops touched down and moved towards their first harbour location, to begin conducting recce patrols onto the objective for the morning’s strike operation.
With long patrols and little sleep, Salamanca Company threw themselves into conducting strike ops throughout their Area of Responsibility, deploying in Black Hawk helicopters and, more covertly, civilian pick-up trucks to attack target buildings.
Salamanca Company was by far the most active, aggressive and fun to work with
Salamanca Company Riflemen
The Battlegroup
44 RIFLES The Bugle