SOLDIERS from Bulford based 1 MERCIAN were put to the test on the Plain recently by US Army General Mark Milley Commander of Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and recently nominated to be the US Army Chief of Staff.

During a high profile visit to the UK, General Milley took time out of a busy schedule to meet soldiers from 1 MERCIAN and give out some awards.

Soldiers from A Company and the Mortar Platoon were personally timed into action by the General who normally has over 800,000 US soldiers under command. He wanted to see if the Mercian soldiers could live up to their claims of fighting skill.

Private Thomas Tomkins (22) said: “I heard Capt Nicholls say we could come into action in two minutes, and he wanted to see if we could really unpack and get our mortar into action as quickly as we said! Naturally we had the mortar in action in an easy 1 minute 44 seconds.”

Corporal Simmonds (31) was given Task Force Helmand Certificate of Commendation by General Milley, he said: “It was a real honour to be presented an award from such a high ranking General, a bit of a surprise too.”

Corporal Simmonds was awarded the commendation for actions he took during a suicide bomb attack whilst in Afghanistan last year, he said: “As soon as I realised the severity of the attack, my training kicked in, my first concern was for the soldiers around me. A lot of great people really performed that day and I’m glad that it’s been recognised.”

The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mark said: “It was a huge privilege for the Battalion to host General Milley and a great opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities and commitment to our greatest allies

“The Battalion has been training exceptionally hard in recent months so it was a real boost for the men to have their skills witnessed and appreciated by such a high ranking US General”.