Page 18 - The Bugle 2018

BG HQ on completion of SPARTAN phase of Ex AS
IT WAS DESCRIBED BY THE QM(T) AS THE ‘BEST EXERCISE I’VE EVER DONE’ - HIGH PRAISE INDEED!
HQ Coy
The past year has seen an interesting and enjoyable programme for HQ Company. Pre-Christmas saw a frenetic pace of life as the ASKARI STORM exercise was brought forward and the pre-deployment training and preparation pipeline was compressed. Much of this activity was enabled by the Training Wing who ran several Battalion level events including Ex CHOSEN MAN, Skill at Arms Meet (SAAM) and H Jones competition. However, they still found time to lead on the Cambrian Patrol team training with the team manager, WO2 Coleman, guiding them to a gold and silver medal. A1 echelon, RAP and Battle Echelon formed up and started training for the demanding logistic re-supply and casevac requirements of Kenya. This involved an exercise on Caerwent training area to hone night driving skills and SOIs in order to allow them to meet the CO’s intent of owning the night.
During Ex ASKARI STORM the Company deployed with 104 members and an augmentation TEMPEST Platoon from the RLC. All elements of the Company were met with a challenging 6 weeks especially since the whole exercise was now to be
ran on Archer’s Post due to land disputes elsewhere. This extended GLOC to Laikipia Air Base tested our ability to move as a Battlegroup by road over large distances and the additional strain on the LAD, MT and QMs departments those long distances cause. However, everyone thrived on the challenge and at the end agreed what an excellent training oppor- tunity it had proved for the G1 and G4 enablers and the improvement in our practices and procedures was noticeable.
PT in the Coy and Battalion has gone from strength to strength with the recent introduction of the Project THOR system of training. This has made an immediate impact with PT sessions being noticeably more varied and progressive and hopefully we will see reduced injury levels over the mid to long term. A further effort to increase deployability has been taken by forming a rehabilitation platoon in HQ Coy called Imjin Platoon. The aim is to allow Riflemen a structured and dedicated rehabilitation and recon- ditioning protocol and prevent them being pulled in different directions by other taskings at the expense of their recovery. So far the initial period shows promise with our soldier athletes responding well to the regime.
After months of Combined Arms Staff Trainer (CAST) build up, followed by CAST itself then a CT4 exercise in Kenya the BGHQ planning team enjoyed some less pressurised combat estimate training in Australia during May as part of Ex MESSINES. This saw The Australian Defence Forces’ (ADF) 1st Division carry out a number of real time and simulated exercises in a Coalition Divisional context with 1 RIFLES BG providing the Divisional reserve. It was interesting for our planners to see how the ADF tackled the different problems and how they employed their forces. There was also some downtime allowing the Signals Platoon and HQ Staff to experience the Gold Coast beaches. It was described by the QM(T) as the ‘best exercise I’ve ever done’ - high praise indeed!
Major Leo Sayer OC HQ Coy
24 FIRST BATTALION
THE RIFLES