Page 71 - The Bugle 2018

Jordan Mobile Training Team
It was with a certain apprehension that the motley crew of the combined B Coy and Battalion HQ team from 4 RIFLES met on an unseasonably warm afternoon at Heathrow airport. The deployment to Jordan, which was the first as part of the newly formed Specialised Infantry for all members of the team, held a mixture of promise and the inevi- table nerves that always come with an unfamiliar deployment overseas. The team had nothing to worry about however as Sjt Vitel confidently informed the team that the previous deployments had all involved 5-star hotels and roof top bars in Amman... this time turned out to be very different!
The team jumped into the task with the gusto expected of them, and started to learn and under- stand the country and personalities we would be partnered with. We discovered that the team would be running two battle group level exercises for different battalions of the Jordanian Quick Reaction Force (QRF), a newly formed unit within the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) with the task of deploying anywhere within 48 hours. It was around this time that the team was introduced to ‘Mansaf.’ This was a Jordanian delicacy that consisted of rice and mutton mixed with a cream sauce that could be eaten with the right hand only. It is fair to say that the team commander Capt David Coombs may have had a slightly clenched jaw when presented with the tongue at one of the first of many Mansaf based lunches. Lt Col Andy Husband (BMATT & RIFLES) might have had something to do with it!
Having spent the first weeks in theatre preparing for the exercise and building relationships with the QRF battalions (mostly involving Mansaf) the exercise window came around quicker than anyone expected. The first battalion through was the 61st down in the south of the country close to Aqaba and as Lawrence of Arabia put it, “the guns do indeed still face the sea”. The exercise was in a challenging yet rewarding training environment with some impressive geographical features (a paraglider’s dream according to CSjt Williams). The highlight of the exercise for both the battalion and the team being a company level Helicopter Assault Force (HAF) using nine Jordanian Black Hawk Helicopters. It’s not in every job that you get to re-enact a scene from Apocalypse Now! The second battalion, the
81st, had a slightly different exercise using a state of the art new urban training facility in Zarqa.
With the exercise phase complete and time still left in theatre the team could identify a number of quick impact training projects that would help set up the QRF for success in their next training year. It was here that the flexibility of a Specialised Infantry team was really demonstrated. Due to the array of knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications held, the team were able to run an array of training packages including small arms, machine guns, anti-tanks and sniping. LCpl Chambers might have even been ‘outshot’ by one of the more rotund members of the QRF sniper platoon!
Over all the deployment to Jordan was a great success and fantastic training opportunity for all involved. It allowed B Coy to experience training with a Partnered Force from the Middle East and allowed us to share and learn lessons ready for future deployments in both Jordan and the rest of the Middle East. Finally, it allowed us to forge both a professional and personal relationship with the JAF, to the benefit of both.
Capt Dave Coombes, OC
THE RIFLES
FOURTH BATTALION 77
A fleet of Jordanian Blackhawks utilised in support of the Spec Inf Team’s MTT
IT’S NOT IN EVERY JOB THAT YOU GET TO RE- ENACT A SCENE FROM APOCALYPSE NOW!
B Coy MTT mentoring during a Jordanian Armed Forces, Helicopter Assault Force