Page 101 - The Rifles Bugle Autumn 2019

PJNCO Cadre
On a forbidding November afternoon, 99 Riflemen aspiring to Lance Corporal from across the Regiment formed up at Knook Camp for the 5 RIFLES PJNCO Cadre 2018. This was to be the start of what was to be a challenging 6 weeks of intensive leadership training and assessment for all. The cadre was built around the theme of recognising potential and developing leaders, before equipping them with the tools of command, leadership and management needed for their task.
The depth and breadth of experience among the Riflemen was as diverse as it was large. Some hadn’t set foot beyond a CT2 exercise, whilst others had multiple operational tours under their belts. Strengths and weaknesses were drawn out for each individual, some excelling as duty student, others in the field, and more still as teachers and instructors. They were, however, united in their desire to succeed and, by extension, lead.
The cadre was broken down into the following structure:
Leadership Theory. The aim of the week was to get the students thinking like leaders. Interspersed with the AFT and PFA start standard tests, the cadre found themselves spending the majority of their time developing their conceptual understanding of what it is to lead, command and manage. Capt Colin Nufer, OC RTT, the RSM and RCMO featured among the week’s speakers. Alongside this, an understanding of what leading in our Regiment is was cultivated, enhanced with tales of real life examples and tradi- tions that live on today.
Training and Instructing. There is a great deal of onus today on the junior leader in The Rifles to be able to hold an audience and deliver a lesson effectively. Under the tutelage of their section commanders, the second week saw the students attain their teaching qualification, and simultane- ously improve their fieldcraft. This was all achieved against a backdrop of two demanding navigation exercises, and a escalating, robust physical training programme.
Formative Exercise. The third week saw the students develop their understanding of delivery and extraction of orders from platoon to section. With these new skills learned, the future leaders were
thrown in at the deep end on a challenging 3-day rotation of section attacks, devised by Sjt Edgerton, to put them to the test. It culminated in Sjt Wiredu’s sword range – what cadre would be complete without one – which was an opportunity for the students to show their ability to control aggression, and lead by example.
Summative Exercise. The fourth week of the cadre was the final exercise. The students deployed to the Urban Training Facility of Longmoor Training Area into a complex and shifting battle for supremacy. Transitioning from rural, platoon attacks, into OBUA and finally COIN, the students grit was tested by a thinking enemy and disgruntled civilian populace. The dynamism showed by the burgeoning leaders was impressive and they handled whatever the cadre staff threw at them.
Ranges and Safety. Returning from final exercise the cadre had no time to rest on its laurels, immedi- ately deploying onto the ranges for their safety and coaching range qualification. An understanding of marksmanship, safe practice and management were critical to success on this penultimate phase of the cadre.
Drill and Pass-off. Handing over to the Cadre Serjeant Major, WO2 Holloway MBE, for the final phase of drill, the hardest-earnt and easiest-lost rank was just over the horizon for the students. The top student, Rifleman Lambe, lead the parade with style, undaunted by a task that 6 weeks prior would have seemed impossible. 47 Riflemen from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th Battalion were promoted to Lance Corporal by Brigadier Charlie Maconochie.
Lt Dan Smith
SOME HADN’T
SET FOOT BEYOND
A CT2 EXERCISE, WHILST OTHERS HAD MULTIPLE OPERATIONAL TOURS UNDER THEIR BELTS
“Bugle Major...sound the double!”