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B Coy poses for a photo on top of ancient ruins ‘B’ Company


by Maj Hill OC


2ic CSM CQMS Maj S Hill


Capt A Browne WO2 Muckle


CSgt Limb OC


Pl Sgt


4 Platoon Lt Hattersley Sgt Brough 5 Platoon Lt Paulin


Sgt Townsend 6 Platoon Lt McIlveen Sgt Fitzgerald


As ever, life has been busy and no doubt this is reflected in all the articles in this latest edition. After a relatively painless move to Belfast in March 2008, the Company provided a PRT and OPFOR to Ex Tropical Storm in Belize to support 2 LANCS BG. This was hugely enjoyable, especially the R&R, but this is described in more detail in Lt Hattersley’s article. Over the next few months, a number of Company personalities changed: Capt Brown, Lt Pye-Watson, WO2 Peach and Sgt Jackson all left and I thank them for the hard work and support they gave to the Company, particularly during Herrick 6. Between June and September, our time was spent either on leave or Adaptive Foundation training; the next major training


36 October 2009


activity was our Pre-Deployment Training (PDT).


B Company began PDT for Op Herrick 10 in September 2008. During the training period, the Company doubled in strength while completing numerous exercises in Northern Ireland and mainland United Kingdom. The highlights so far have been the Combined Arms Live Firing Exercise (CALFEX) and the Mission Rehearsal Exercise (MRX). Both took place in January and helped the Company to prepare for the hardships of Afghanistan by going through the rigours of the Great British Winter. The CALFEX took place in Mordor (or Otterburn as it appears on the map) and gave a chance for the Company to conduct field firing in conjunction with fire support assets. Live firing always brings an added element of reality and greater levels of focus and excitement to an exercise. For some, the CALFEX also served as a stark reminder of the physical demands placed upon the modern day infantryman, as some of the soldiers encountered Osprey body armour and front line scales of ammunition for the first time.


Following on from CALFEX, the Company deployed to Salisbury Plain for the MRX. This exercise is designed to test the chain of command’s reaction to events on the


ground with real time exercising troops providing their own version of Clausewitzian “friction”. Events on the ground certainly proved to be unpredictable with B Company coming up against a seemingly invincible enemy, immune to the effects of all weapon systems. When not taking on a bullet-proof enemy the Company had a chance to train with soldiers from some of the support arms as well as honing life-saving counter-IED drills which will increase their safety on tour. A heavy snowfall transformed Salisbury Plain into a Winter Wonderland or Artic Battlefield depending on which side of a snowball ambush you found yourself and gave everyone added incentive to practise hard targeting.


Throughout the PDT period, B Company has been able to use a constant feed of information from current events in Afghanistan to build upon previous operational experience. This has meant that all members of the Company, both new and old, have had to adapt to new challenges and drills. Every time the soldiers have been tested upon this they have reacted well, demonstrating diligence and enthusiasm. B Company can now look forward to deploying to Helmand well-prepared and eager to put training into action.


The Mercian Eagle


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