Recognisable by their distinctive bearskins and scarlet tunics, the Support Company of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards have pulled on their combats to show off their skills on Salisbury Plain Training Area in Wiltshire.
The training is the culmination of multiple promotion cadres within the Company and, after several days of range specific training, it culminated in a mass fires exercise.
The Support Company of the Coldstream Guards consists of all the specialist elements that gives an infantry battalion its war winning abilities. These include their snipers, mortars, machine guns, recce and anti-tank personnel.
These soldiers are often the more senior members of a battalion and will use their experience and skillset to ensure their unique assets are best placed. Whilst each Guardsman is a very well trained individual, all the elements of a Support Company work best as a team and this range allows each element of the Company to practice working together as a cohesive unit to ensure they’re ready to deploy if needed.
Alongside ceremonial duties and operational training, the Coldstream Guards have also recently deployed to Manchester to facilitate COVID-19 testing in the City. The Coldstream Guards pride themselves on their many operational skillsets and outputs and todays ranges is just another example of that mentality.
Major Dan Cuccio, Officer Commanding 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards Support Company had this to said on the range: ‘This is the culmination of two months hard training for Support Company, during which every man has earned his place. Now we are coming together to demonstrate the true firepower of a well-drilled Company.’