The Colonel in Chief meets C Company
I introduced the men to an US Army saying during Ex Grand Prix – “Don’t let our ghosts say, I wish I’d trained harder” – and I’m happy to report that the Company has trained harder than I could have wished for. We must now stand ready to put that training into practice in support of the people of the Upper Gereshk Valley.
Ex Grand Prix by 2Lt Nathan Rager
The experience of Ex Grand Prix was a particularly enjoyable one for me as it was my very first experience of Battalion life; one week after finishing Brecon, I found myself in Teraco Farm carrying out important advance party duties and awaiting the arrival of my Platoon whom I was to meet for the first time.
The first phase, after a period of acclimatisation, was spent in FOB Edinburgh, a fine example of Kenyan accommodation consisting predominantly of tents and dust. Here, the Company had a few days to continue the acclimatisation period, enjoying the wildlife at sunrise during early morning PT. Also, we went through various low-level training such as Section contact drills under the instruction of the mysterious “Shay” (who
The Mercian Eagle
does know the colour of the boathouse in Hereford), medical and CASEVAC lessons, checkpoints and vehicle search and Javelin familiarisation. Physical development was aided by the simple expedient of placing the various lessons several kilometres apart and tabbing everywhere in full patrol kit, with the occasional diversion to avoid wandering elephants. The conclusion to this phase was a ‘foot safari’ consisting of another lengthy tab to our next home.
FOB Sovereign was the staging point for our three-day Company Mission Rehearsal Exercise (MRX), much like Edinburgh but with more dust. From here, we conducted a cordon and search on a village (very successful up to the point when the CIVPOP’s TES vests were mistaken for suicide vests) and culminated in a character building overnight insertion followed by a 15-hour valley clearance immediately followed by a dawn attack up a nice small hill. Soon after this, the Battlegroup gathered at Archers’ Post (officially the 5th hottest place on earth) for a live firing package, tying in Aviation and OS assets, and BG MRX with lots of VALLON training, more hills and the biggest thorns you’ve ever seen. Then it was back to Teraco Farm and prep for the Brigade MRX
in Lol Daiga. This incorporated the Kenyan army who had been working alongside us in Archers’ Post, which made for some interesting discussion. After a few days of strike ops, framework patrolling and route clearance, we moved towards the final attack, the objective for which was visible from a daunting distance as it was the largest and steepest hill for miles around, rising straight out of a virtually flat plain. 8 Platoon had the privilege of being the first up, whereupon Sgt Malone took great delight in becoming a casualty for the second time in one day and getting carried back down the hill, no doubt laughing all the way at the other Platoons struggling to the top to join the fight. C Coy was victorious, of course, with a little help from A and G Coys and so we began to move in the direction of long-awaited R&R. Then we turned around and went back up the hill, once to clear up the brass and once, I think, just for the amusement of the DS.
When we reached our R&R destination, the fact that it looked almost exactly the same as the FOBs we had been in for the last five weeks did little to dampen the enthusiasm for the goat curry and (relatively) cold beer. The Platoons entertained themselves with fireside skits, barbequing the local livestock
October 2010 15
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