Page 76 - The Bugle 2018

R Coy OC’s remarks
What a year it has been for Representative Company. The company recovered from Op SHADER, re-rolled into a Specialised Infantry (SPEC INF) company and are now looking at multiple deployments from America in the West to Afghanistan in the East. The chosen men of R Company have been tested, taught, trained and have been tremendously reliable.
It took some time for the company to really work out what being Specialised Infantry really meant in day to day terms both when deployed and in barracks. It was when we travelled to Sennybridge to conduct our Battle Craft Syllabus exercise that we really saw the SPEC INF concept click when conducting tactical activity. Without any help from outside the company we planned and delivered our own training which included patrolling, point defence, close quarter battle training, hasty and deliberate strike operations, sub-surface and hasty ops, HMG firing, convoy operations and team medic assessments. Most of the low level training was planned and delivered by the Cpls and Sjts – mission command has been critical to the success throughout. It was arduous but looking back on it, it set the right tone for what was to come. R Company find themselves the vanguard company to prove the full SPECINF 24 month training, deployment and recovery cycle. With the high-profile nature of the role comes high profile visits. Our first visit in our first week of our deployment to Afghanistan counted officers wearing 7 stars – we are up and running.
Boldness, Adaptability and Decency are the primary principles of Representative Company and never have they been more fitting when conducting our new role. We have had to be bold and adaptable when honing our skills in language, culture and training delivery; putting them to the test with oversees militaries and local cadet forces alike. These new skills have been learnt and applied in conjunction with working on the basics; ensuring that we are not only a credible mentor and instructor force but also have the ability to get ourselves out of problems if required.
The chosen men and women of Representative Company are well prepared for the operational deployments to come.
Major SJ Bedford-Smith
Officer Commanding
82 FOURTH BATTALION
Riflemen of Representative Company completing their final training in Belize
Ex MAYAN STORM
The company deployed to Belize as the final part of their pre-deployment training in preparation for future overseas operations. The Riflemen were put to the test in the austere, humid conditions that the close country tropical environment has to offer.
The initial phase of the 28-day exercise included an introduction to surviving and operating in the jungle, covering everything from building shelters and how to catch, kill and prepare food to contact drills and jungle SOPs. The aptly named ‘jungle school,’ culminated in a company attack. The week in Sibun Gorge gave the company a work out whilst learning to fight through the constraints of communications and the difficulty of operating within a tropical environment.
Team patrols followed, which allowed the 12-man teams to practice operating in their new role as 12 man teams. The 4 day round-robin of patrolling included close target reconnaissance, key leader engagement, hasty defence, contact lanes and raids onto enemy positions. This allowed the riflemen to hone their skills and the team TTPs before moving on to Live Fire Tactical Training (LFTT).
The LFTT phase granted us the opportunity to practise and improve on the close quarter
THE RIFLES