Page 28 - MERCIAN Eagle 2021

Pl Comd DMaj Graham Strong
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Assault Pioneer Platoon
The Assault Pioneer Platoon has had a very busy year this year. We deployed to Germany with the Battalion on Ex TALLINN DAWN to get ready for the deployment
to Estonia and went through some basic low-level training as well as developing on our specialist skills as Assault Pioneers, improving our own mobility and counter mobility tactics. We practiced minefield clearance, creating clear routes for armoured vehicles to move through as
well as denying other routes, putting our chainsaws to good use by conducting ’abatis’ to block tracks.
Initially on deployment in Estonia
the Platoon was split between the
Rifle Company’s and Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Group to provide specialist capabilities to each. For the latter half we came together to exploit the huge variety of training opportunities that were available in Estonia. Ex IMYAR was a force- on-force exercise which saw us attached
to an Estonian Recce Company. Tasked with disrupting and harassing the enemy, we went about our core business with vigour, creating obstacles and concealing improvised explosive charges. From the cover of the trees, we were able to detonate the simulated charge by command wire, achieving two mobility kills against the Royal Tank Regiment’s CHALLENGER 2 tanks. We also advanced the use of quadbike
on CABRIT 8, using them to quickly move around armoured columns, assisting the Recce Platoon in route selection decisions, identifying minefields and roadblocks on the route and clearing them ahead of the main force.
On Ex SPRING STORM, the Assault Pioneers worked with Recce and Snipers, infiltrating behind the enemy through the thick, deep bog of Estonia to harass the supply lines and identify obstacles and enemy positions. On moving through one part of the forest, we were stopped by the observer mentors and told a WW2 mine
had recently been found in the area and they were unsure if it had been moved. Always looking for training opportunities, we got out our VALLON
during which the Platoon set up improvised Claymore mines and Bangalore torpedoes. We also conducted a ‘friendly’ inter-platoon
metal detectors and cleared a route through the forest, marking areas to avoid with spray paint.
We were stopped by the observer mentors and told a WW2 mine had recently been found in the area
competition where
we put our skills and drills to the test; this included crossing a wet gap using the infantry assault bridge, counter- IED drills, clearing a safe route, felling a
tree then using it to create an obstacle to block a track, section attack, breaching a
We conducted
interoperability training
with the attached Royal
Engineer Squadron,
as well as Estonian,
French and US
allies throughout the tour. While training alongside the French engineers, a highlight for both parties was the demolitions range
path through a minefield and conducting a fighting withdrawal. This rivalry built
a great relationship with the French 13
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
Assault Pioneers conduct counter-mobility training creating abatis by burying trees. Nothing is getting through this
Cpls Caling and Ross working with the 82nd Airborne Div