1 Royal Welsh Gun Camp (C Company)

In early 2019 saw the return of our beloved annual Battalion Gun Camp in Castlemartin Ranges (CMR). In February C Company had the privilege to be one of the last companies to go through the range package. The aim of the Live Firing Exercise (LFX) is to provide an adaptable and progressive series of shoots to enable individuals, crews and multiple vehicles to achieve a high standard of technical gunnery skills.

We had the joys of dealing with our new and excited gunners and get them to pass the Individual Gunners test (IGT). Now, if you are not familiar with the Warrior AFV, this is the shoot that new gunners need to pass before going onto the LFX. Before C Company could deployed to CMR for their annual test, they were put through vigorous weapons and theory testing to allow them to be at the correct level before moving onto CMR. The training involved a month of Weapon handling, followed by the WHT (Weapon Handling Test) before moving onto the simulation training in the Warrior Turret Trainer.

The company headed down to CMR on the Sunday night and for the crews it straight to the sheds with the LAD to work tirelessly to prepare the vehicles for firing, allowing the first day of firing to run as smoothly as possible. Like most Ranges the first day is extremely busy, getting the ranges up and running, with crews conducting bore sighting, and pre-firing checks before the safety brief. Castlemartin in the height of winter isn’t the most desirable place to be, but even though the weather was not at its best the crews cracked on with the job at hand.