Page 54 - The Rifles Bugle Autumn 2019

THE SIMPLE YET EFFECTIVE LESSON SHOWED THE VALUE OF A WELL PACKED SANDBAG
Exercise OLIVE GROVE, Jordan
A Company, 2 RIFLES deployed onto Exercise building up the basics towards more complex,
platoon operations nearer the end of the exercise. Training was entrusted to the Platoons, and Section Commanders were given the chance to take and develop their brand-new sections into effective fighting units. Towards the end of the ‘Green Phase’, the Riflemen completed live fire training up to section attack level at night, putting into practice everything they had learned over the previous 6 weeks. Time was made for a penetration demon- stration giving the junior riflemen an eye-opening education on just how effective our ammunition is (courtesy of the local butcher) and how misinformed Hollywood film makers are. The simple yet effective lesson showed the value of a well packed sandbag at stopping both 5.56mm and 7.62mm ammunition, and the Company saw a significant improvement in the quality of the defensive positions thereafter.
OLIVE GROVE in Jordan in late August 2018. The Exercise was 6 weeks long and consisted of low level, back to basics training alongside the Jordanian Armed Forces. After a few false starts and the usual sky-blue frictions of getting to Jordan, the Company quickly settled into the stunning Al Quwayrah training area to begin our work in earnest.
The first half of the training consisted of a three-way rotation between platoons testing offence, defence and enemy taskings. The challenge of the extreme heat combined with the arduous nature of the rough terrain made for a testing environment for both Riflemen and commanders. Defending the Russian- style pre-dug trenches from their fellow Riflemen brought many tests, particularly the persistent ticks! The training focus was mainly on section level tactics, taking a newly formed company and
52 SECOND BATTALION
THE RIFLES
Despite some of the Riflemen having never seen Indiana Jones, they were still impressed by the Treasury Building at the entrance to Petra
Corporal MacDaid delivers a tactics lesson to the Jordanian Armed Forces