Page 24 - Bugle Autumn 2014

operational capacity and the rewards of working with an Army that is not cynical, but enthusiastic, and genuinely grateful for the training we provide.
After a busy PDT we were thrust from a drizzly Chepstow into a mango grove in Kati (several hours drive from Koulikoro) as a permanently deployed mobile training team with the task of conducting pre-deployment training for GTIA (Groupe Tactique Inter Armes - Battlegroup) WARABA. A
genuine and occasionally literal baptism
by fire, training GTIA WARABA was a huge challenge to be faced immediately after arriving in country; we had less than half
the time usually allocated to get to a pre- deployment standard and we had to do it without the resources of a training camp.
The real challenge in Kati was not the living conditions however, it was the very real limitations of the MAF to force generate and to provide adequately for their soldiers. We eventually received full platoons and companies but the experience and ORBATs varied massively and for the first few days they were struggling to feed and water themselves with many soldiers having not been paid. The arduousness of our training had to be adjusted and it rapidly became apparent that the most pressing concern was not one of tactics or military knowledge but of morale and cohesion of the units we were training. Despite these limitations,
the enthusiasm, diligence and kindness of the Malian soldiers was obvious from the start and the rapid progress they made during those weeks is testament to the hard work of the training teams but also to the tremendous character of the Malian soldiers and their huge appetite for learning and working with us.
As I write we are 5 weeks in to a 10-week
LCpl Ashley making friends on a practice framework patrol in Koulikoroba
Cpl Hoole, feeling at home as a Malian Bugler, sounds for firers to engage targets on the range. To the Riflemen present it was a pleasant surprise to see that all the words of command on the range for this Malian unit were sounded by Bugle
training package delivered in Koulikoro. GTIA 5 are now able to conduct Platoon level conventional tactical actions and have progressed onto COIN operations and Platoon Operations in a Company context.
The character and attitude of the Malians is genuinely humbling and there is much we could learn from them about resilience, morale, and brotherhood. GTIA 5 were delayed in arriving to us because of a massive battle in Kidal, a stronghold of the Tuareg separatist group (the MNLA), where several EU trained Malian battalions were defeated somewhat
catastrophically. Throughout
this time the very fabric of their country
has been under threat and their comrades have taken significant casualties across the MAF. We are only here for the blink of an eye in the context of the conflict in Mali; the most time my Malian platoon commander has spent with his family since 2008 is a month. That they remain as enthusiastic and motivated as they are with the hugely limited resources they have is inspirational and makes us as trainers determined to give Company 2 of GTIA 5 the best possible chance of succeeding on operations to stabilise their country.
Lt Harry Jenner, Platoon Commander, 2 Platoon
22 FIRST BATTALION
THE RIFLES