A 6RAR section produces an innovative alternative to carrying stores during the Endurance Challenge of the 6RAR Military Skills Competition. Photo provided by 6RAR

6RAR’s top soldier

PTE Geoffrey Sheard was declared 6RAR Champion Soldier for 2003, following seven days of gruelling infantry challenges during the battalion’s annual Military Skills Competition.

The section from Spt Coy’s DFSW platoon, commanded by Cpl Andrew McNeil and LCpl Aaron Dishington, won top honours as the Champion Section.

The competition took place at Greenbank and Enoggera, with activities focusing on operations in East Timor.

6RAR is scheduled for a six-month rotation to East Timor towards the end of 2003 and the annual competition provided an ideal start for lead-up training.

Capt Anthony Blumoser said the competition assessed individual and collective skills within sections of nine soldiers, with the results used to decide the Champion Soldier and the Champion Section.

“Many tasks undertaken in East Timor are performed at the section level and in most cases require a lot of initiative within the section itself,” he said.

“Soldiers were given a task at each stand with certain outcomes expected – how they actually completed the task was up to them.”

The competition was conducted in two phases comprising a non-tactical stage at Greenbank Range and a tactical element at the Enoggera military area.

Tasks ranged from erecting and maintaining a vehicle checkpoint to village searches and live firing activities.

Soldiers were assessed on skills such as navigation, marksmanship and general military knowledge.

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