Page 110 - The Rifles Bugle Autumn 2019

5 RIFLES Families
There have been several activities that the welfare team has been involved in over the past 12 months and they have all be attended and supported very well from the Bn and the families. We started off by supporting the SSAFA ‘Big Brew’ aerobic session. This took the form of CO’s PT and was great fun, lots of people supporting and making donations for cakes (made by the wives). The next event was Salamanca Day 2018 which was headed up by OC FSp Coy and consisted of a dog show, baking competition, raffle, bouncy castles, SPIRE FM, RIFLES re-enactment and many more activities. This was a great day and the weather was perfect.
After a well-deserved summer break, the wives were put through their paces on Ex BUGLE VIXEN (Wives Exercise) which was run and organised by WO2 Gornall. The exercise was attended by 30
wives from the regiment and they had the chance of taking part in command tasks, obstacle course, blank CQB and staying out overnight under a basha, this was all rounded off with a slap-up meal in the WOs & Sjts Mess.
Throughout the year there are too many individual activities to recount; in amongst coffee mornings and drinks parties there have been children’s events such as a Halloween party and a visit from the petting zoo. The welfare office is due to move to its new location in the Beeches community centre in September 2019, where we will be sharing the building with all the other welfare teams in the garrison. This will enable us to mix and share resources and equipment and provide joint activities to promote cohesion between all the different units. Capt Grayham Henry
Downhill Bugle
In March 2019, 5 RIFLES deployed on a skiing expedition to Kopaonik in Serbia. Located on the border with Kosovo, this small Serbian town offered a unique opportunity to take over thirty riflemen out to get the Ski Foundation 1 qualification. There was a large range of experience on the exercise, from those who had never skied before to some that had raced for 5 RIFLES at the Divisional skiing compe- tition; Kopaonik promised to cater to all levels.
The long overnight journey from Bulford, via Belgrade, arrived in Kopaonik early on Sunday morning where tired bodies were fortified with a complimentary shot of local Rakija, a very strong Serbian brandy. An administration day followed before the skiing began in earnest on Monday, with the group being issued its rental skis and being shown around by Mirko, the Assistant to the Defence Attaché from the Serbian Embassy in Belgrade.
Bright and early on Monday the groups were divided up by experience and the week’s main activity began in earnest. Kopaonik offers many slopes perfect for beginner skiers; shallow gradients that prevents one from picking up too much speed, with none of the traffic that you can expect from the more famous European resorts. For the more experienced skiers there were plenty of long, challenging slopes to get their teeth into. Although the learning curve was steep, by the end of day two even the novices were skiing down red slopes. Most impressive was Rifleman Peden, who managed to land a backflip after only a few days skiing! Everyone else made excellent progress and had sampled the most difficult black runs before the end of the week.
Hard work on the ski slopes was followed in the evening by hearty periods of cultural reflection; Kopaonik has several bars serving the local Rakija, making the next day on the slopes always a little difficult to begin with! Overall this was an incredibly successful exercise to a country with whom we have so much shared history, some of which is fairly recent in The Rifles’ operational past. 5 RIFLES must thank the Col Nick Ilic and Mirko, without whose enthusiasm and drive this trip would not have been the huge success that it was.
Lt Alex Andreoli
Celebrating all cultures at Salamanca Day
5 RIFLES Shooting Team
The 5 RIFLES shooting team has had a successful year. Their season started shortly after the battalion shooting competition with a squad of 16 identified from across battalion, forming two teams to compete throughout the remaining competitions. The pre-season training package culminated with a week of training at the Akrotiri ranges in Cyprus, where the team worked closely with the Regimental Shooting Team to improve their technique and experience of competition shooting.
Following their return, the team moved straight onto the Brigade Opera- tional Shooting Competition in Liverpool. This saw some tough conditions with the riflemen having to adapt to the challenging and windy conditions of the Altcar ranges. The team performed very well with the 5 RIFLES teams finishing 1st and 2nd and with all individual shoots bar two being won by 5 RIFLES riflemen. Of particular note was Rfn Loveless, who placed 1st as the best shot in 20X.
The Divisional Operational Shooting Competition, held in Bulford, posed a more challenging environment with a much greater pool of teams who were all posting impressive scores. Once again both 5 RIFLES teams shot extremely well; despite being controversially pipped to 1st place they completed the podium for 2nd and 3rd places respectively within the Iron Division.
The highlight and main focus of the season was obviously the Defence Operational Shooting Competition at Bisley. The 5 RIFLES team shot with customary confidence which led to high scores being posted from day 1. Ultimately the Battalion finished in a strong 9th place with a score of 15039 points. In addition to this, six members of the team made it into the Army 100 with special mentions to Rifleman Halliwell for achieving 30th and Rifleman Todd for placing 46th. The team has had a fantastic season and set the framework for next year, all whilst proving how effective operational marks- manship can be improved with the right practice and mindset. The team has now dispersed back into their companies where they can use their skills and experience to improve the combat effectiveness of 5 RIFLES as a whole.
2Lt Ollie Kember
Chosen men
108 FIFTH BATTALION
THE RIFLES