HRH THE COUNTESS OF WESSEX PRESENTS LAST IRAQ MEDALS TO 5 RIFLES 14 JUL 09

Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, Royal Colonel 5th Battalion The Rifles, presented her Battalion with campaign medals following their recent return from their fourth tour of duty in Iraq.  These were the first medals that Her Royal Highness has presented to the soldiers of her Battalion since being appointed Royal Colonel in February 2008.

Her Royal Highness spoke to each of the soldiers to whom she presented a medal, many of whom she had met on her first visit in September last year.  Over 300 soldiers of the Battalion were on parade as families, many of whom had travelled over from the UK, watched with pride as their loved ones received their medals.

 
5th Battalion The Rifles are have the unique honour of being the only infantry battalion to have completed four tours of duty in Iraq and the only major unit in the British Army to have been in Iraq at the cessation of combat operations in May 2009 who took part in the 2003 invasion.  They have played a significant role in ensuring the transition to democracy and the improvement of security in the country over the last six years.

Whilst it was remembered that on this tour all the soldiers who deployed came home on previous tours The Rifles as a Regiment have lost 13 soldiers.  As their names were read out by Padre Gavin
Smith, the flag at half mast in the background was a reminder that there are comrades in 2 RIFLES and 4 RIFLES who last week tragically lost their lives in Afghanistan.  The flag signified the repatriation of 8 soldiers that was taking place at the same time in RAF Lyneham.

Accompanied by the Band and Bugles of The Rifles, based in Winchester, Hampshire the soldiers marched past in quick time before doubling off the parade square. 

In addition to the presentation of operational medals, Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex unveiled a recently completed portrait of herself as Royal Colonel.  It was commissioned by her Battalion before they went to Iraq and will be on permanent display in The Officers’ Mess, Alanbrooke Barracks, Paderborn, Germany.  Present for the unveiling was the London based portrait artist Theo Platt, honoured to have been chosen for this particular commission, flew in for the day.  He said that it had been a privilege to capture the Countess not once, but for a second time.  He was also delighted to be able to see where the portrait will hang.

 

 

5 RIFLES UPDATE 1 MAR 09

A Rifleman from 5 Rifles watches as a Merlin helicopter arrives at FOB Oxford.  Matt Cardy/Getty Images

900 men and women from 5th Battalion, The Rifles (5 RIFLES) Battlegroup are currently deployed as 20th Armoured Brigade’s Strike Battlegroup.  The Battlegroup comprises of 3 Armoured Infantry Rifle Companies from 5 RIFLES, a further Armoured Infantry Rifle Company from The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (1 PWRR), a covert surveillance company from 5 RIFLES and two tank squadrons from the Queen’s Royal Hussars (QRH).  The Battlegroup is mainly equipped with the Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle but one of the squadrons has Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks.  The Battlegroup are currently half way through a 6 month tour of Iraq (Operation TELIC), their fourth since 2003 and a feat not matched by any other infantry regiment.  Uniquely, they are also the only battalion to have been here at the start and end of Operation TELIC.

5 RIFLES are based in the Contingency Operating Base (COB) at Basra International Airport.  The Battlegroup provide a quick reaction force that is able to deploy anywhere at a moments notice.  Their Warriors providing speed, formidable fire power and protection to the riflemen.

Rfn Lemaki waves to the fisherman from FOB OXFORD

The Battlegroup also have a number of outstations, or Forward Operating Bases (FOBs), that they operate from in support of the commander’s mission.  FOB OXFORD is in the marshes to the north of the COB and provides a base from which patrols to counter indirect fire (rockets and mortars) can operate with the support of a boat troop from 35 Regiment, Royal Engineers. 

Boat operations FOB Oxford

Patrols are also inserted and extracted by RAF Merlin helicopter.  To the east, on the Iranian border, The Battlegroup operates from FOB MINDEN. an austere border fort from which they provide protection for the American Army teams mentoring the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement checkpoints.  To the south, B Squadron QRH live and work in the strategically important southern port of Umm Qasr.  By coincidence, a small detachment of 1 RIFLES riflemen are also deployed in Umm Qasr and the two often link up.

5 RIFLES’ main role is armoured infantry, however, during this tour the riflemen have had to expand their knowledge and change how they operate. The Battlegroup have used many different vehicles during the tour from the Warrior to a quad bike.  Patrols have been conducted by land, air and water with the support of the RAF and the Royal Engineers.

Finally, the battalion has over 100 men and women committed to a range of important duties in the home base, including the vital task of providing for and supporting our families.

 

Merlin helicopter lands at FOB Minden