Page 50 - The Bugle Issue 12 Autumn 2016

Cpl Hunt engages with the locals in Ex ASKARI STORM 1/16
A Company overview
From East Africa to Eastern Europe this has bee a year of contrasts for A Company. The year started with the company recovering from the Falklands and looking towards the main event of Ex ASKARI STORM in early 2016. Before the delights of Kenya however, there was much for the ri emen of A Company to do.
The initial focus for the company was delivering Ex SHAMROCK MAYNE 16, the 38 Brigade Patrols Competition. This was a Cambrian patrol style exercise for regular and reserve units from across 38 Brigade and Northern Ireland. Most of the company were involved; competing patrols, running skills stands or providing behind the scenes support to the patrols. The stands included a medical stand run by Cpl Fell and LCpl O’Brien, a section attack range run by Cpl Gray and his team, and a challenging live defensive range run by Sjt Sullivan. The battalion acquitted itself very well with both patrols competing achieving gold medals.
THE BATTALION ACQUITTED ITSELF VERY WELL WITH BOTH PATROLS COMPETING ACHIEVING GOLD MEDALS
The autumn saw Lt O’Brien, Sjt Lyon and Cpl Hunt supporting the Fire Team Commanders’ Cadre, from which both LCpl Cooper and LCpl Price promoted. Throughout the year there was a constant barrage of trawls that ri emen from across the company supported. These included a platoon supporting the Platoon Commanders’ Battle Course nal exercise in Brecon and Scotland. From an opera- tional perspective 18 A Company Group ri emen have conducted pre-deployment training for tasks in South Sudan, Gabon and Op SHADER.
In January we formed A Company Group with the addition of an ISTAR team from I Company and 9 Pl from C Company. This brought the company group up to strength for the deployment to Kenya on Ex ASKARI STORM 1/16. Lt Mark Nattriss, Sjt Fox and 9 Platoon tted seamlessly into the company giving us our third ri e platoon. Capt Harry Sawers and his ISTAR team of snipers, recce and Javelin completed the company group. At full strength the company group was 126 strong and included reservists from 7 RIFLES and 4MI Bn and three serjeant majors. The ISTAR team concept was successfully tested with the ISTAR team working alongside the machine gun platoon to FIND and then FIX the enemy before the three manoeuvre platoons moved to STRIKE.
In June A Company group deployed to Romania on a NATO reassurance exercise, Ex SARMIS 16. The exercise involved forming a combined company
48 SECOND BATTALION
THE RIFLES