Page 42 - The Bugle 2018

THIS YEAR HAS SEEN THE MACHINE GUN PLATOON RE-JOIN I COY, MOVING AWAY FROM THE ARMY 2020 STRUCTURE
With the completion of Operation SHADER 5 and after some hard-earned leave for the Battalion, I Coy was finally back together and in a position to rebuild after being spread out for the last 12 months. The logical starting point for this was the I Company Cadres. This year has seen the Machine Gun platoon re-join I Coy, moving away from the Army 2020 structure (a section per Rifle Company), back to a fully established platoon. The privilege of rebuilding the ‘Guns platoon’ fell to Colour Serjeant Gibbons and Serjeant Couch who both embraced the task.
The Cadres started with a foundation week in Northern Ireland. The aim was to test the Company’s low-level skills prior to deploying to Brecon for the individual role training. The week contained a series of day navigation exercises in the Mourne Mountains and night navigation around Ballykinler training area, before finishing with an inter-platoon compe- tition comprising of a series of medical, memory and communications stands. The Reconnaissance Platoon managed to finish top just ahead of a very impressive Sniper Platoon.
Due to the sometime independent nature of the platoons within I Coy, the decision was made to bring the company together each Monday for a physical training session prior to deploying on exercise. The Coy was therefore able to complete one of the ‘start standard’ tests from the Infantry Battle School each week (2, 3 and 5 mile weighted marches). The aim was to give those yet to complete a Brecon course an insight into the standards expected but, unfortu- nately it also provided an excellent opportunity for those that had done a Brecon course previously to
recount how much harder it was in their day!
The Reconnaissance Platoon received a large batch of new, keen volunteers from the Rifle Companies and Serjeant Davies, fresh from the Light Reconnaissance Commanders Course, did an excellent job whipping them into shape. He began by building on some of the skills that they had learnt in the Rifle Companies and teaching some new skills, such as Observation Post (OP) construction and concealment. This is something that Rifleman Rana managed to perfect very quickly, resulting in a rather embarrassing moment where he fell through the top of his own OP when returning from a resupply, much to the amusement of the rest of his patrol. At the end of the Cadre Rifleman Skinner was awarded the Top Student award in the 2 RIFLES Reconnais- sance Platoon for 2018, an impressive achievement for someone who had only been in a Rifle Company
for a short time prior to moving to I Coy.
Meanwhile the Javelin Platoon returned to the basics of their trade, painstakingly practising with the £150,000 anti-armour simulator. Once their skills had been honed, the platoon progressed onto an arduous two-week exercise on Sennybridge spent largely either underground or with a shovel in hand. One of the crowning moments of the cadre was undoubtedly the Tactical Exercise Without Troops (TEWT) week that saw the platoon visit the Bovington Tank Museum to learn their enemy; before undertaking several battlefield assessments, ending in a platoon pub supper. However, in a close second was the moment LCpl Hudd was trying to convince the Brigade Commander, on his visit, that he: “felt most at home in an OP than anywhere else”.
He wasn’t fooling anyone!
After a long period of ammunition restrictions, the
Mortar Platoon was finally able to partake in some good quality live fire training in Warminster. This was an excellent opportunity to requalify some of the old hands and test out the new guys. Towards the end of the live firing package, the Sniper and Recon- naissance Platoon travelled down to Warminster to do some live “Untrained Observer” calling of fires. Getting that level of training from the Mortar Platoon’s Mortar Fire Controllers (MFC) was excellent and a really useful training serial for both the Mortar Platoon and the untrained observers.
The Cadre finished with an exercise across the Sennybridge training area to find and fix an enemy force provided by A Company. The destruction of the enemy was completed by a very determined B Company who jumped at the chance to get one over on their fellow Riflemen. Overall it was a very productive deployment to Brecon and a good foundation for the company to build from for Exercise ASKARI STORM in Kenya in 2019. Captain Mark Nattriss, Officer Commanding Reconnaissance Platoon
I (Support) Company Cadre
The Machine Gun Platoon live firing during the I Company cadres
LCPL HUDD WAS TRYING TO CONVINCE THE BRIGADE COMMANDER, THAT HE: “FELT MOST AT HOME IN AN OP THAN ANYWHERE ELSE”. HE WASN’T FOOLING ANYONE!
48 SECOND BATTALION
THE RIFLES