Page 53 - MERCIAN Eagle 2020

Op RESCRIPT – C Company’s Perspective
2Lt St Clair-Gray
When 4 MERCIAN were mobilised as part of MoD’s response to the pandemic,
C Company more than stepped up to the plate in terms of enthusiastic, willing volunteers. After reporting to Bulwell ARC to sign out kit and complete the relevant paperwork, it was apparent that C Company officers and soldiers were keenly aware of the need to do their bit as part of the COVID Support Force (CSF).
After much initial speculation about what the role would entail, C Company officers and soldiers slotted into their respective roles within the sub-unit grouping, taking up command positions and providing soldiers to the platoons that undertook the task of setting up Mobile Testing Units (MTUs) in Cumbria and Lancashire. Given the unusual nature of Op RESCRIPT, as well as its political sensitivity, all did themselves a great credit by conducting their taskings dutifully, professionally and efficiently.
After Op RESCRIPT had concluded, C Company continued a period of sustained online training virtual returning until it was deemed safe to return to physical training with strict force health protection measures in place. Our first activity in person was Ex KOHIMA PEAK, a company level day of adventurous training (mountaineering) which tested military skills such as navigation, as well as serving the purpose of being a cohesion event after enduring an extended period of national lockdown restrictions.
Support to EMUOTC
Sgt Hardy
C Coy have continued to provide training support to East Midlands University Officer Training Corps with Sgt Hardy and Sgt Orton providing Skill at Arms training throughout their training year and when possible
under COVID restrictions. Instead of indoor classrooms, we used the outdoor hangars in Chilwell to allow for ventilation and social distancing to be adhered to during training.
Despite restrictions EMUOTC Officer Cadets have been no less enthusiastic and after being holed up in halls of residence and student accommodation, have relished the chance to get out and blow off the cobwebs. Our close relationship has provided a healthy stream of young officers who seem to enjoy the training provided by C Coy personnel. They particularly enjoy the Q&A session provided that create a clearer understanding of life in the Army in general but particularly within 4 MERCIAN prior to embarking on a career in the Army.
Back to a new normality
2Lt Stone
Ex KOHIMA PEAK was a single day AT exercise held in the Peak District. As a mountaineering event, the aim was to get soldiers back into training post-lockdown and also to deliver the Return to Work brief, to ensure that soldiers were ready to operate in line within Force Health Protection Measures in place to reduce the risk to as low as reasonably possible. The AT in the Peak District was then a steady reintroduction to a key Infantry skill, Land Navigation, but in a relaxed civilian environment in order to build
low level skills ready for a fire-team level navigational exercise later in the year.
Qualified instructors took groups round the Mam Tor near the Hope Valley, while giving the more junior soldiers in the company the opportunity to navigate legs of the journey with help from a paired JNCO.
C Company personnel performed well during the navigation exercises,
Kohima Peak
starting from simple route selection and finding large features, before increasing in difficulty to Micro-Navigation, the ability to find specific smaller features, culminating in a challenge to lead
the team to an exact altitude with no assistance or specific features to work
off using pacing and other techniques that had been taught throughout the day. Congratulations to Pte Council for getting to within 1 metre of the target, the closest of the day!
Overall, the exercise was successful
in getting soldiers back into training, in building lower level skills in preparation for future events and battalion training and to increase soldier’s confidence in navigation, as well as develop instructor at all levels. As a company we are now looking toward a future team event
in the same area using more military navigational skills in order to exploit these successes and develop our skills further.
Commissioning into the Mercian Regiment
2Lt Mackney
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected
the whole of the society and no more
so than The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It is a measure of the flexibility and adaptability of the Army that the
training on Commissioning Course 202 continued, largely uninterrupted. With no previous military experience, I was nearly overwhelmed by Modules A+B compared to my peers, the majority of whom had served within the UOTC. The socially distanced nature of the course made it harder to receive help, however through many late nights and the occasional doze in lectures, the platoon (family) came closer together and developed as one. The completion
of MATTs and several exercises involving deliberate attacks, ambushes and a raid
of a FOB, made every individual in the company a more well-rounded person both in a civil and military context.
A highlight of the course was a company attack on to Caesar’s Camp, Aldershot.
By the end of the four day exercise, the platoons were working in harmony and secured the vital ground. This was the point everything just clicked.
Confined to camp except for excursions to Barossa and Aldershot training areas, the eight-week course came to a close
for 91 Officer Cadets with a modified commissioning parade taking place in MTP on Old College square in front of Inspecting Officer, Maj Gen S J Potter QVRM TD VR. 64 were commissioned into the various University OTCs, a further 21 into Army Reserve units, together with five from the Cayman Islands and one from Bermuda.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
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