Page 66 - The Bugle Issue 12 Autumn 2016

2 RIFLES Shooting Team
Despite what some on the 2 RIFLES shooting team may tell you, time on the range is never wasted. This was proved by the 2 RIFLES Shooting Team having its strongest ever year – culminating in a top 10 nish in the Army – despite many rainy days on the Ballykinler ranges.
Training started in earnest in early April with an initial squad of top shots whittled down to pick the two best 8 man teams. The Battalion entered both the Northern Ireland Shooting Competition and the 1 Division Operational Shooting Competition (DivOSC)
in Catterick with two high quality teams competing in each.
The many hours of hard work paid off as the 2 RIFLES ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams nished rst and second at DivOSC respectively. This was achieved by winning nine of the twelve team shoots, placing seven of the top ten shots and winning the overall Best Individual Shot, Rfn Hossack and Best Of cer prize, Lt Nattriss.
After a few weeks back with their respective Companies the team reassembled for the Army Operational Shooting Competition (AOSC) at Bisley. Despite the British summer doing its best to dampen spirits once again the team produced some outstanding performances, with nearly all rers shooting better than they did in the Divisional Competition. This jump in performance led to another impressive set of results with ve of the eight rers qualifying in the Army 100 and shooting on the prestigious Century Range on the nal day of the competition. Overall the team put in an outstanding performance nishing an exceptional 7th out of the 46 teams that entered the Army wide competition. Lt Nattriss, OC 9 Platoon
2 RIFLES Army top 100 Shots Lt Nattriss
Cpl Deal
Rfn Hossack Rfn Stacey Rfn Kenney
The 2 RIFLES Bisley Shooting Team
Community Engagement
The community engagement close battle has put on assorted equipment/capability stands which
OSC HQ AND C COY ENJOYED A SHORT TIME ON THE THRONE CHAIRS
continued with the Battalion, completing its second year, now rmly rooted within the Lisburn community and, as always, with Ri es charm and diplomacy leading the way.
The Battalion has supported many community engagement events throughout the year, working particularly closely with the Lisburn ABF. A small team was dispatched at short notice to support them and host at the Royal Gun Salute held at Hillsborough Castle. OsC HQ and C Coy enjoyed a short time on the throne chairs until threatened with the tower! Another Ri es treat was getting to help out again with the annual Hillsborough International Oyster Festival – no trouble getting volunteers for this event!
This year’s Station Fireworks Extravaganza was a huge success with Thiepval Barracks opening its doors to the great and good of Lisburn. The Battalion
proved to be very popular with young and old, military and civilian alike; very much outdoing the resident Royal Irish Regiment display team’s efforts. The PRI Shop, cam cream makeovers and the quads were particularly popular while the Catering Platoon fed the masses at a small cost, raising good money for the Mayor’s Charity.
The CE highlight of the year was the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) Civic Reception which took place in April. This event saw the Lord Lieutenant of Antrim and the Mayor of Lisburn formally welcoming the Battalion to Lisburn. 200 guests attended comprising a cross-section of the Battalion’s Ri emen and attached arms, family members, members of the Council and MLA’s and guests from 38 (Irish) Brigade and Lisburn Station. This proved to be a very special night with good food and excellent company while being superbly enter- tained by the visiting Ri es Band and Bugles. The following night the Battalion reciprocated by hosting the Mayor and Council members at the annual 2 RIFLES Sounding Retreat. This event also celebrated the arrival of the newly sponsored 2 RIFLES Lisburn Cadets from the Wallace Detachment, H Coy 2nd (NI) Bn ACF with a rebadging ceremony. The Cadets are very keen and are very much looking forward to being part of the Ri es family and standing out amongst other Cadet attachments in NI. A very big coup for us as a Battalion which has raised an eyebrow or two but can only be looked on as a positive way to strengthen our relations with the greater Lisburn/NI community and hopefully get some future Ri emen from it too!
Maj C Lamb MBE, OC HQ Company
Lisburn Cadets receive their new stable belts from the Mayor of Lisburn after rebadging to the RIFLES
64 SECOND BATTALION
THE RIFLES