SOLDIERS tested their trigger fingers during an operational shooting competition.

First Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles swept the board at the 16 Air Assault Brigade competition staged at Fingringhoe Ranges in Colchester.

Across three days and six disciplines, teams from the brigade’s nine units tested their skills with the SA80 A3 assault rifle and Glock 17 pistol.

1 Royal Gurkha Rifles won the overall competition and Corporal Dhan Ghale finished top of the individual rankings.

The Gurkha team was drawn solely from A Company, with the rest of the unit currently deployed in Kabul protecting NATO advisors.

Cpl Ghale said: “As a soldier, shooting is one of the most basic and most important skills. I am happy to win best shot but prouder that the team has won.

“To win as a team drawn from one company is a massive achievement, and we have got boasting rights within the battalion and the brigade.

“We practised hard for the competition but did it intelligently and had good shooting skills to build on.”