Page 42 - Bugle Issue 16 Autumn 2020

Rifleman Marcus Burgess –
The Mobile Force Reserve: a Rifleman’s experience
The Mobile Force Reserve (MFR) is UNFICYP’s strategic reserve, tasked with responding to events and crises throughout the 180 km of the Buffer Zone (BZ).
Our job gave us an interesting tour. We familiarised ourselves with each of the three sectors of the BZ by vehicle, and by helicopter to get a bird’s eye view. This allowed us as
a company to select the best routes for our vehicles when we needed to patrol in the BZ and also possible supply routes, which would be critical if ever deployed forward in the BZ for extended periods of time.
Using the UN Flight was incredible. The Argentinian helicopters can rapidly travel across the BZ to areas that are impassable to vehicles. Being able to see the BZ from above also helps us amend maps or correct routes, which is incredibly important when being
in the wrong place – by even a few feet – in the BZ can cause an international incident
between the South and North. It’s also great for troops to be able to see it from a different perspective – and of course everyone looks cool in the back of a helicopter!
R&R was not possible because of COVID, meaning that we spent the full six-month tour in Cyprus without being able to go home to see family. We still, however, had AT. I enjoyed a five-day AT package where I did mountain biking, and others went rock climbing. Both were great fun and good confidence builders, and also created stronger friendships and trust between soldiers which is always a good thing! Despite keeping the peace, we did not neglect training hard, to improve our soldiering skills. We spent days war-fighting in the field and completed Team Medic and communications courses. We wish 6 RIFLES well for Op TOSCA 33!
Rfn Marcus Burgess, MFR
Despite keeping
the peace, we did not neglect training hard, to improve our soldiering skills
The Buffer Zone by helicopter
MAKING HISTORY
Leading the largest operational deployment of the Army Reserve
What a year it’s been for 7 RIFLES. After two years dominated by training for war – as both armoured and light-role infanteers – 2020 saw us train for peace. We started our journey as United Nations peacekeepers in the wind and rain of Norfolk but fulfilled our duties under the intense heat of a Cypriot sun. We have been privileged to lead what has been the largest ever deployment of the Army Reserves as a single, formed unit under its own chain of command in recent
years on Op TOSCA 32: the UK’s contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
It has been a dramatic year. My battlegroup flew out just as COVID19 started to rage around the world. The disease meant that the tour I had originally promised the battlegroup was destined no longer to be. Our first experience of Cyprus was a two-week quarantine at Bloodhound Camp in Episkopi, followed by a sharply curtailed take-over process from our
It has been a dramatic year
predecessors that marked the start of our life in lockdown at Ledra Palace. The Riflemen, and indeed Fusiliers, of my battlegroup had to adapt rapidly to a complex tour, in a foreign land, under exceptional conditions and constraints. The usual welfare package that British soldiers deployed on any operational tour can expect was significantly reduced
– R&R, for example, was not going to be possible.
The battlegroup, however, took COVID well and truly in their stride. Our minds remained focused by the importance of the mission and the fascinating world in which we found ourselves.
TOSCA is certainly an interesting tour. British soldiers have been serving the cause of peace on what remains a divided island since 1964, becoming responsible for Sector 2 of the Buffer Zone – the area in and around the capital, Nicosia – in 1993. We were responsible for maintaining the integrity of the Buffer Zone that separates the Turkish North from the land still directly administered by the Republic of Cyprus, to prevent a recurrence of fighting,
to maintain stability, and to de-escalate the military presence in order to enable a just
and lasting political solution to be found.
This means a lot in practice: from constantly patrolling our 30km sector to identify ceasefire violations, to liaising with both the Greek Cypriot National Guard and the Turkish Forces in an even-handed manner, to supporting the other elements of what is a civilian-led multi- national mission, TOSCA is a tour of complex demands and unique situations.
TOSCA may have been my battalion’s main effort, but 7 RIFLES was hardly quiescent on the home front. And home front it certainly became! COVID saw us mobilise a company for Op RESCRIPT: probably making us the
first Army Reserve battalion to deploy at sub-unit level or greater simultaneously on two operations. We also had to re-think the way we trained: great credit is due to the rear operations group who adapted and overcame.
It has been both an immense privilege and a great pleasure to command 7 RIFLES during what has been a historic two years for the battalion, and for the Army Reserve. We have taken war-fighting training to new highs, kept the peace on Cyprus, and overall demonstrated the profound contribution that the Army Reserve can now be expected to make to defence, fulfilling the ambitions of its foundation.
Lt Col James Gayner MBE
Commanding Officer
42 RIFLES The Bugle