Page 76 - Bugle Autumn 2014

Battalion Shooting Team
The shooting team has had a relatively successful year. As one of the CO’s
stated priorities, and in the wake of the phenomenal success of the Battalion’s snipers in Divisional and Tri-Service competitions, we had big boots to fill. In addition, as a regiment we take pride in our marksmanship, and the individual shooting ability of each Rifleman is at the forefront of our soldiering skills. So all eyes were on the shooting team to do well at the Operational Shooting Competitions.
competition gave us the opportunity to practice all of the shoots that we would
be carrying out during the Brigade and Divisional competitions on the same ranges that they would be fired on - giving us the ‘home advantage.’
The Brigade Operational Shooting Competition (BOSC) came the week after the Battalion SAAM, and the hard work and training we had put in came to fruition. Despite adverse weather conditions and
Cavalry Regiment. The performance of the week went to Rfn Gulliford, who was fourth individual shot overall, coming just behind three established ‘Army 100’ shots.
The Divisional Operational Shooting Competition offered us similar success.
Out of 50 teams, we came sixth, earning
a place at the Army Championships at Bisley. The C Team won the Moving Target Shoot, and we returned second, third and fourth places in the March and Shoot, with the Royal Welsh denying us monopoly of the podium. In the after action review it
was apparent that we were probably the best ‘amateur’ team in the competition, behind the well-practiced Gurkha outfits. We showed we stood as one of the best units in the division, despite limited training time and ammunition allocation. In this we can say that we achieved mission success, demonstrating that in marksmanship, 4 RIFLES have certainly established ourselves as a reputable shooting battalion.
Special mention and thanks goes to WO2 Shaun Ridler. Without his dedication and hard work, the team would not have achieved nearly as much success as it did. He was the driving force behind the team, providing expertise, guidance and the logistics to keep the team running. In addition, congratulations go to Cpl Vitel, who was selected for the Army Shooting Team alongside two of the Battalion’s esteemed snipers.
2Lt Joyce, B Company
The medal winners at the 3 (UK) Div Operational Shooting Competition.
The team was given
two months to train.
In the run-up to the
Brigade and Divisional
competitions we ran
extensive ranges,
taking several long trips
down to Hythe ranges in Folkestone. This, although not ideal in terms of location, gave us the opportunity to hone our skills, find our points of aim and learn the complex sequence of shoots that we would have
to memorise on the day. In addition, being away from the eyes of Battalion and critically from Dii meant that we could focus solely on our task: to master the practices we would be shooting when the competition started.
Our first real opportunity to test ourselves came at the Battalion Skill At Arms Meet (SAAM), which was an inter-company event on Bulford Ranges. Although we were not officially allowed to win any awards, the
stiff competition, three of our four teams qualified for the Division Operational Shooting Competition (DOSC),
a huge achievement considering that only one fire team per unit
was guaranteed to qualify, after which it went to the next highest scoring teams. We won five out of the ten awards on offer, with LCpl Zareh, Rfn Nicholls and Rfn Aslam winning individual awards in addition to
two fire team matches. The D team won the Combat Snapshooting match, which involved jumping over and under obstacles then rapidly engaging targets. The final match of the competition was the Falling Plate shoot – a knockout competition where two teams would race to the firing point and knock down 10 metal plates as quickly as possible. In extreme weather and after a first round dead heat, the A team won the final against the Household
Special mention and thanks goes to WO2 Shaun Ridler
74 FOURTH BATTALION
THE RIFLES