Page 28 - Bugle Issue 16 Autumn 2020

Sjt Gomez instructs QK members
Team 4, A Company 4 RIFLES deployed to Camp Taji in Iraq in September 2019. We spent 6 months training the Qwat Khasah Brigade (QK - Arabic for special forces) in small unit tactics, basic infantry skills and specialist weapons courses before leaving theatre in March 20.
The QK are the Iraqi Ministry of Defence’s Crisis Response and Ranger force. Though still an emerging unit, their role is envisioned as being an elite light infantry force that can deploy anywhere in Iraq at short notice. The courses we delivered to the QK were based around an 11-week model which took recruits from zeroing their weapons to conducting platoon attacks. Opportunities to develop the QK’s operational planning were also identified but our early departure this year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic have left these
on hold. Elements of the US Army’s Green Berets, a unit we have exercised with before, were also engaged in training the QK and
we continued to develop an extremely close relationship with them whilst deployed.
The latter months of our time in Iraq were also characterised by dramatic events and escalations in regional tensions. The US strike on Iranian General Qasim Soleimani sent a shockwave through the region and marked
a rise in regional hostilities. A stark reminder of the threat faced by troops in Iraq was the tragic death of LCpl Brodie Gillon, a British medic working with the broader UK force, in a rocket attack on Camp Taji on 11 March. CSjt Sean Kirkham, of our own battalion, was also injured in the attack but thankfully made a full recovery on his return to the UK.
Though a busy deployment, not all of the time was taken up with work. Special mention should be made of Rfn Jack Blades’ role in running fitness circuits and LCpl Tom Smith’s
proactivity in organising football matches with other coalition teams. Team 4 also became pretty dab-hands at DIY, earning considerable credit with the other Coalition nations for the quality of their compound’s garden area.
The global pandemic that has marred every aspect of our recent lived experience also brought Team 4’s deployment to a premature end, with Coalition manning reduced significantly to slow the spread of the virus. The Team were withdrawn from theatre in late March, unfortunately arriving home on the day that even pubs were shut across the country.
We look forward to returning to Iraq in the near future and re-starting operational mentoring with our friends in the QK. Capt Timo Slack
A Company
in the use of US 81mm Mortar
in Camp Taji’s Amber Zone
Serjeants’ Mess Matters
The raucous festivities of the Christmas Ball, now feel like
The Serjeants’ mess has been unusually quiet in the last few months with mess members either on operations or working remotely. The raucous festivities of the Christmas Ball, another triumph organised by WO2 Tim Tyler, by now feel like a distant memory in the ‘new normal’ in which we all find ourselves living in.
Despite this, we still managed to give good send-offs to CSjt Tilstone and CSjt Davies in October. Regrettably we were unable to dine out one of the mess’ stalwarts, Maj Dave Sharpe, thanks to COVID-19 restrictions; but
a socially distanced BBQ was held outside later in the year. In September we also played host to the Command Sergeant Major of the US Army’s new Security Force Assistance Brigade. Thankfully no mess members
28 RIFLES The Bugle
brought up the White Houses’ redecoration in 1814 courtesy of some boisterous Riflemen. The Christmas Ball, held on 19th December, was also a success with a strong turnout from across the usually dispersed battalion. With the retrospect of such an unusual year for the mess, it was a stroke of luck that
so many members of the mess and their partners were able to make it to the event ahead of what would become an extremely socially restricted year. With a (relative) return to business this autumn we look forward to welcoming new members from across the RIFLES Battalions in the coming few months, as well as the SNCOs from Coriano Company, 3 RGR.
WO2 Jonny Williams
CSM HQ Company
a distant memory in the ‘new normal’
in which we all find ourselves living in
Ice cold: the PMC’s moonlighting
as an ice sculptor finally
comes to fruition
A stark reminder of the threat faced by troops in Iraq was the tragic death
of LCpl Brodie Gillon, a British medic
QK SPECIAL OPERATIONS ADVISORY
TEAM UPDATE