Page 21 - The Rifles Bugle Autumn 2019

Labels and management companies all want different things, and Oli had to develop special teamwork and interpersonal skills to get anything done.
He continues with his music, playing piano at events when asked. Through endurance sports (10 marathons, 4 ultra-mara- thons and several triathlons, including the 2017 Lanzarote Ironman), he has raised over £5000 for charities and gained a passion for the mountains and the outdoors. His eyes are set on bigger and more complex events in the years to come. Oli commissioned into 2 RIFLES.
2Lt AJR Rogers. Born in Dulwich, South London, Andrew inherited his parents’ passion for sports and the outdoors – and honed his competitive streak with his brother. He won an academic and sports scholarship to St Dunstan’s College in Catford, where becoming the head of the Army Section of the CCF steadily made the Army a more likely long-term goal. He won an Army Sixth Form Scholarship in 2012. Beyond academics, he completed Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award and captained the School’s 1st XV. In the latter role he learned valuable lessons in how minor successes can motivate a team from a smaller school to be able to win against others from a numerically superior one. He worked during the holidays as a qualified coach at the local tennis club, learning to communicate with and to motivate even the most stubborn of youthful pupils.
Andrew studied Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham. Alongside those studies, he was active in the UOTC, taking part in the Cambrian Patrol team, a mountaineering trip along Corsica’s GR20 route, completing Reserves ‘P’ Coy and captaining the Rugby Sevens team. He played for the University’s 1st XV, in a testing season which demanded sometimes 7 days-per-week training.
Between University and Sandhurst, he fulfilled his long-held ambition of solo travelling around Australia and South-East Asia, a particular highlight of which was working on a cattle farm in an isolated and small town in Queensland. Andrew was commissioned into 5 RIFLES.
2Lt BW Tomlinson. Born in Guildford, Ben moved with his family to Princeton in the USA when he was just three. They have moved numerous times since. In New Jersey he developed an enduring fascination for American sports, particularly ice hockey. After several family moves, back in UK he attended Hereford Cathedral School, representing the School at cricket, rugby, football and hockey with a level of enthusiasm intended to make up for his lack of skill. He also participated in several drama productions, completed the DofE Gold Award and contributed enthusiastically to the Army contingent of the School’s CCF.
When he was fourteen, the family relocated to Switzerland, where Ben attended the International School of Basel. It was a difficult transition, but made for some formative experiences - playing for a wholly francophone football team with minimal understanding of their language. Over the course of two years he learned to adapt, communicate, and even develop a Gallic sense of humour.
Ben took War Studies at the University of Birmingham. He also made the most of every extracurricular opportunity: fulfilling his childhood ambition to play ice hockey, he went on to captain the University’s C team and compete with the B team at National level. He joined the UOTC, which confirmed his growing ambitions to
attend Sandhurst. He took part in a Cambrian Patrol competition and captained the Corps’ hockey team.
He left Birmingham with a 2:1 degree, but an old rugby injury forced a delay of a year before he completed AOSB. He used that to gain a Masters from KCL in Terrorism, Security and Society. At King’s he was the least experienced, least qualified and youngest member of the classes, and that taught him all about hard work, time management and humility. Ben was promoted to JUO before the Sovereign’s Parade. He has commissioned into 1 RIFLES.
2Lt AGPW Wells. Archie comes from North London. He attended Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire. Whilst there he repre- sented the school in Rugby, Swimming and Athletics and took part in pilgrimages to Lourdes. These experiences ranked as richly rewarding and humbling, and were early pointers for him towards what he wanted out of his life and career.
Archie made his Gap Year busy: he worked in a scrap yard briefly before becoming a stock boy in the Kensington Olympia Exhibition Centre and working as an au pair in the United States. He then went travelling around South East Asia for three months. After that break, he went to the University of Edinburgh, where he enjoyed a four-year Masters’ degree course in Classics, graduating with a 2:1.
He came to the decision to join the Army in his final year at university. Having passed AOSB he filled the interim period of 8 months as a labourer in and around London. These were tough jobs in motivated teams of men and women, with challenging hours, in often difficult situations, and taught him how reward only comes after success and hard work. He has always enjoyed ‘hands on’ work and involvement within a team, a mindset instilled through these more practical aspects of his work history. Archie commis- sioned into 2 RIFLES.
We welcome into the Regiment the following officers, who commissioned on 12th April 2019, from RMAS Commis- sioning Course No. 182. The Sovereign’s Representative was General Mark A Milley, Chief of Staff, United States Army.
2Lt JE Bush. Jack started life in Devon, born into a military family, then moved to Plymouth, and later explored Belfast and several other locations across the country. He maintained his initial desire to follow in his father’s footsteps into the Army. With this goal, he worked flat out at school to gain a place at the University of Exeter, reading History, and attaining a 1st Class Honours degree, and then his place at Sandhurst.
Jack enjoys boxing and has a goal to lead his future Battalion team. He also has a keen interest for competing in and organising cross-country events, and aims to gain qualifications in climbing. Ernest Shackleton has inspired the adventurer in him, and he has cycled from Dover to Rome in aid of Help for Heroes – an event which he would like to repeat with Riflemen in the future, if given the opportunity. He was cross-country captain at Exeter UOTC, an amateur boxer and a participant in the 3 Peaks Yacht Race (embracing all of sailing, running and cycling).
Jack believes these types of enterprise reinforce understanding of how individuals interact in a team, and even within societies; they help to forge a close but respectful camaraderie, encouraging
THE RIFLES
SALVETE 19