Page 6 - The Light Blue Volunteer Journal 2022

Shooting Camp
This year’s Shooting Camp took place at Altcar training camp near Liverpool. Over the course of 10 days OCdts progressed from revising - and in many cases encountering for the first time - the basics of shooting through to conducting advanced live fire shoots in preparation for the Army Reserve Operational Shooting Competition (AROSC). On the first day OCdts undertook the necessary admin for
the following camp - familiarising themselves with their rifles, conducting zeroing shoots, and acquiring their points of aim for various firing positions. They also undertook the other necessary admin of exploring the camp, including its clubhouse (‘The Red Rose’ - though we were limited by a strict red light policy) and the nearby beach, which at low tide extended for some 2km from the beach’s edge to
the shoreline. The next day OCdts went straight in to undertaking the Annual Combat Marksmanship Test (ACMT) and, despite less than ideal weather conditions (the fire-trenches became fire-ponds) came away with universal passes and five marksmen - including OCdts Sellick and Llewellyn who before the previous day had never shot before.
The next few days were a blur of the various matches and cups which make up the AROSC:
The Whitehead Cup, a rapid advance from 500m-100m with targets every 100m; the Pistol Match (including our own ‘headshots only’ take on it); the Advanced Mover, where we engaged moving targets across a simulated rural environment and then advanced with
fixed bayonets (which, when cam’d
up is very cool); the Urban Contact Assessment, a rapid engagement in various positions from 100m-25m; and the Fireteam Close Combat Assessment - an awesome match engaging
targets from 100m-25m and moving
as a fireteam, with all the shouting and commands that that involves. There were many others, but far too many to list!
These shoots had an amazing variety of techniques and elements to practise but also experience. From rapidly running across and adopting different positions to working and advancing together in fireteams. When else in the UOTC do
you get to shoot hundreds of rounds with a Glock, or shoot with a bayonet fixed? Everyone thoroughly enjoyed getting to try all these new things - especially the Glocks - and then working to perfect their own shooting skills, and actually be able to watch themselves advance and get better at this sport in real time.
We also got to train with - and in many cases go toe-to-toe with - the extremely experienced 158 Reg RLC Shooting Team, who amongst their number contain internationally ranked shooters. Their advice and friendly competition undoubtedly helped our training and
helped us in the AROSC.
In between time on the range we had
the opportunity to explore the Altcar camp - including its neighbouring beach, with an awesome 2km distance between the edge of the beach and shore (it took Wagstaff about 50 minutes to walk to the shore and back), the aforementioned Red Rose, the gym, and the neighbouring village’s Weatherspoons.
Overall, the week was a brilliant experience - everyone loved it. We all got to try brand new things, even for
the experienced shooters - who else
has done a section attack with live ammunition before? Everyone came along immensely with their shooting,
so much so that by the end of the week our 3rd top shooter, OCdt Sellick, was someone who previously had never shot before. At the end of it all we then had a week’s break before the AROSC, which the Shooting Camp had prepared us well for - well enough that we consistently beat other reservist teams, including from infantry units, and came away with an AR50 shooter (well done to SUO Rogers!). It’s now just a case of waiting for next year’s camp to see how we can grow bigger and better from here.
6 THE LIGHT BLUE VOLUNTEER