A team of Scottish-based Able Seaman trainee submariners won the inter services Junior Leaders Field Gun (JLFG) competition at the first time of asking on Friday, 8 July 2016.
Twenty sailors from HM Naval Base Clyde’s Submarine Basic Qualification Course became the first submarine team to enter the competition, and the first ever Royal Navy team to win the inter services event.
Taking place annually at HMS Collingwood in Hampshire, the JLFG seeks to promote the key military values amongst its team members of courage, commitment, discipline, integrity and loyalty.
The JLFG is open to teams of Phase II trainees from across the Royal Navy, Army and RAF and universities and colleges.
This means that those taking part have completed their initial military training and are now making ready for their specialist roles in their chosen service.
“Our team had an amazing week, and I am very proud of the positive comments and observations made about the attitude of our men and women by my fellow participating Warrant Officers from the Army and RAF,” said Warrant Officer 1 Coxswain Tony Care, the Submarine Flotilla Executive Warrant Officer.
“The team’s success was not only down to their hard work and commitment, but by their preparation and guidance provided by Flag Officer Sea Training and HMS Neptune colleagues based here in Scotland.”
The winning team members are currently working towards qualifying as Vanguard Class submariners.
They are on a ten week classroom based course at HM Naval Base Clyde, the home of the UK Submarine Service.
Upon completion they will serve at sea before undertaking a rigorous examination board designed to test their knowledge of all the vital systems on the submarine.
To qualify as a submariner, sailors demonstrate an intimate and instinctive knowledge of more than 30 complex engineering systems, which operate their nuclear submarine and keep its crew safe.
The physically demanding Field Gun competition is a tradition which has its roots in 1899 and the second Boer War.
During the conflict, the British Army found themselves under siege and a Naval Brigade came to their rescue.
