Page 134 - The Rifles Bugle Autumn 2019

DURING THIS TIME THE COMPANY HAS GROWN BY 40%, WHILST BEING ABLE TO DEPLOY RIFLEMEN TO SIERRA LEONE, JORDAN AND KENYA
E Company
The past 12 months has been an extremely busy and exciting time for E Coy. Following our re-subor- dination from the 6th Battalion to the 8th Battalion we were tasked with growing a new Platoon location in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, as well as establishing a Machine Gun Platoon in Shrewsbury. During this time the Company has grown by 40%, whilst being able to deploy Riflemen to Sierra Leone, Jordan and Kenya, as part of our pairing relationship with the 2nd Battalion.
The training for E Company has followed the Battle-Craft Syllabus, which has provided a solid road map to ensure our Riflemen are highly profes- sional and able to work as a stand-alone Company Group or to integrate with our Regular counter- parts. The access to high quality training areas, like Caerwent, has seen a rapid development of our Riflemen’s skills and drills. This bore fruit during the Operational Shooting Competition in March, where members of the Company took home gold for Best Officer Shot and Best Novice Shot, as well as silver for the Team and Soldier competitions.
A source of the newly found drive in E Company is the Riflemen who have joined the new Platoon location in Sparkbrook. Located near the city centre, with strong links to the Royal Green Jackets and a thriving young population to recruit from, Sparkbrook has been a true example of success. Having put in place a command structure that was exported from our existing Company location in Shrewsbury, the Platoon has successfully recruited and trained 20 new Riflemen, with a further 10 candidates raring to go. This new blood has boosted the enthusiasm in the Company and we are seeing numbers increase across the board, which is complemented by volun- teers to deploy on overseas exercises.
Our pairing relationship with the 2nd Battalion has given these volunteers ample opportunity to quench their thirst with a fire team deploying to Jordan on Ex
OLIVE GROVE and a Section, as well as a Platoon Commander, deploying to Ex ASKARI STORM. These opportunities allowed our Riflemen to receive an injection of experience before completing promotion courses on their return to the UK.
Building on the success of last year’s Winter Adventurous Training Exercise, E Company led the second iteration of Ex FROSTED SWORD to Val Thorens, France in January 2019. Being fortunate enough to hold a number of ski instructors in the Battalion we were able to deploy and self-deliver Ski Foundation 1 and 2 courses to 30 Riflemen from the 8th and 2nd Battalions. Ski Foundation 1 is aimed at novices and qualifies them to ski safely, which is taught over a six day course. Those Riflemen who
Caerwent has proved a great training area for E Company