Page 26 - The Bugle Autumn 2016 Issue 12

Captain Kenji Ara gives an enthralling set of orders on TAC EX 2
Tactical Exercise Two
Tac Ex 2 in week 16 of the Combat Infantryman’s Course, the Ri emen of Prince of Wales 5 Platoon completed their second fully tactical exercise, moving on from the fundamentals of administrating themselves in the eld and conducting basic attacks to more varied types of patrolling.
Tac Ex 2 is a ve day exercise, which is the longest the recruits will have spent in the eld to this point, and helps cement the lessons learnt on previous exercises when cooking, building shelter and concealing themselves. The recruits are now able to conduct these tasks with minimal super- vision from their section commanders.
The exercise is broken down into separate days involving three of the main patrolling types; recon- naissance, standing patrols and ghting patrols, by both day and night. These lessons have been taught in camp prior to deploying on the exercise, but now the recruits will have a chance to put them into practice in the eld. On Tuesday after a night in the harbour, the recruits conducted recce patrols led by their section commanders, initially in daylight as a rehearsal, and later that night on a farm building occupied by training support troops.
conditions for ambushes on the nal day, where the sections inserted near likely enemy resupply routes to observe their movements. Here the Ri emen learnt about building observation points and the discipline required to occupy them for long periods, particularly on a cold and wet day and night in March.
On the nal day the platoon conducted battle prep much more in line with what to expect on a battalion exercise. The 1ITB Padre came out to conduct a eld service, which gave the Ri emen a break from harbour routine, some divine inspiration and a Haribo induced sugar rush.
They received their rst example of a set of platoon patrol orders, using a model for the rst time. This demonstrated to them how to extract their mission and key timings and actions on for the upcoming patrols. Moving out to complete a platoon ambush, the recruits demonstrated they had the discipline to remain set in an ambush and not compromise themselves. Once sprung, the Ri emen had their rst opportunity to put their recent rst aid training into practice with an exercise casevac situation, triaging, treating and extracting casualties without stretchers a considerable distance back to the harbour location. Again, this was conducted both by day and during a dawn ambush the next morning.
Tactical exercise two is an excellent chance for the Ri es recruits to demonstrate that they have learnt the building blocks of infanteering and are ready to learn more advanced patrolling skills.
Lt Calum Ashurst, POW 5 Platoon Commander
Live Firing Tactical Training (LFTT)
At the culmination of the Combat Infantryman’s Course, the Ri eman have to complete a compre- hensive week long LFTT camp in Warcop, Cumbria, followed immediately by their nal exercise in Otterburn. Ri es 5 deployed with its sister Platoon in mid-February, with all the staff, and Ri emen
The week of LFTT at Warcop prior to nal exercise is a real highlight of the course for the recruits
The second phase was designed to set the thinking, “this
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THE RIFLES