Issue 87 - NWRFCA - Northwest Reserve Forces & Cadets Association

4 Mercian
Matt completes TA
Commissioning Course
Local soldier Matt Styles has completed
a lifelong ambition by attaining a
Commission in the Territorial Army.
2Lt Styles, 20 from Middlewich,
successfully completed the 3 week
Territorial Army Commissioning Course
at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
This was the final step in a 18 month
process which included passing 2 Army
Officer Selection Boards and two courses
which consisted of a Module 2 which was
10 Weekends long and Module 3 which
was a 10 day Battle Camp confirming the
previous training in field conditions.
2Lt Styles has been a serving Member
of D Coy 4 Mercian since 2008 and
trained as a rifleman first before starting
on the commissioning course. The former
Middlewich High School pupil said:” I’d
always wanted to join the army at some
stage and whilst at Sir John Deans College
the opportunity to join 4 Mercian with a
friend came up so I thought why not? It’s
the best of both worlds.”
Matt, who was studying journalism at
the University of Salford before taking a
gap year, said: “Joining 4 Mercian has
got to be one of the best decisions I’ve
made, the friends and opportunities I’ve
had have been fantastic. Passing out of
Sandhurst after 18 months of saying no to
friend’s parties was definitely worth it, I
haven’t felt anything like it”.
D Coy will now have a new platoon
commander at the Crewe TAC. 2Lt
Styles will be responsible for the career
management, welfare and training of his
platoon of 30 men. He is keen to add that:”
I am always looking for new members to
join D Coy 4 MERCIAN”.
When asked what the future holds, Matt
said, “after completing further specialist
training I hope to deploy on operations to
Afghanistan as soon as possible”.
PSAO Capt John Tyson said: “It’s good to
see Crewe with a platoon commander, I
have high expectations and wish him the
best of luck”.
If you are interested in Joining 4 Mercian as an officer
or soldier, You can phone D company on 01270 650 017 or
Email 4MERC-DCOY-RRTT@mod.uk.
BA in Contemporary Military
and International History
For those with an interest in military and international history, this innovative degree programme
offers the opportunity to discover how warfare and statecraft have shaped the major events of
the last 200 years.
Our programme at Salford features visiting speakers from Britain and abroad providing specialist
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You can find out much more about this interesting and stimulating area of study,
as well as the application procedure, at
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Or just call Farah Khan on 0161 295 5540.
www.nwrfca.org.uk the VOLUNTEER 25