TA soldiers raise the bar for territorial operational training

RMLY soldiers on exercise in Grafenwoehr

RMLY soldiers on the final training attack at Grafenwoehr. They had to pass progressively harder challenges to be able to qualify for the final attack. (47.31kb)
RMLY soldiers on the final training attack at Grafenwoehr. They had to pass progressively harder challenges to be able to qualify for the final attack. (26.91kb)
RMLY soldiers on the final training attack at Grafenwoehr. They had to pass progressively harder challenges to be able to qualify for the final attack. (41.50kb)
RMLY soldiers on the final training attack at Grafenwoehr. They had to pass progressively harder challenges to be able to qualify for the final attack. (40.03kb)
Regular soldiers playing repel forces against the RMLY during the final training attack, where the RMLY had to take control of a rebel held compound and free a hostage. (37.48kb)
RMLY soldiers on the final training attack at Grafenwoehr. They had to pass progressively harder challenges to be able to qualify for the final attack. (48.23kb)
RMLY soldiers in the Grafenwoehr Shooting House, a live-firing facility not available in the UK. The RMLY are the only TA unit to have qualified the strict process to be able to safely use the house. (43.53kb)
RMLY soldiers on exercise at Grafenwoehr. (42.79kb)
RMLY soldiers on the final training attack at Grafenwoehr. They had to pass progressively harder challenges to be able to qualify for the final attack. (39.50kb)
RMLY soldiers on the final training attack at Grafenwoehr. They had to pass progressively harder challenges to be able to qualify for the final attack. (51.51kb)

TA SOLDIERS from the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry (RMLY) have just returned to the UK after a two week intensive training exercise at the formidable Grafenwoehr camp in Germany ahead of the regiments Afghanistan commitments next year.

The RMLY's role is to provide troops at nine months notice, so the regiment is in a permanent state of readiness, but this training exercise was particularly significant: Not only are they the only TA unit to have qualified for the vigorous Grafenwoehr camp that provides live-firing facilities beyond those available in the UK even for the Special Forces, the usually armoured regiment achieved this using Infantry training tactics, which made the training far more physically challenging.

Soldiers worked around the clock, living and working from a Central Operating Base (COB) and Forward Operating Base (FOB) Deva in a simulated two week offense and defence programme that saw them have to defend their own camp and assault hostile villages.

At times soldiers returned from an intensive live-firing attack only to take over the day to day running and security of their makeshift camp, including food, logistics and administration. All on little sleep with a deliberate and constant increase in the tempo of training.

For this is the climate of operational tours, and Commanding Officer Lt Col Jonathan Brooking is determined that the men and women in his regiment are ready to stand nose to nose with their regular Army counterparts in Afghanistan.

"It's a duty of care to ensure that those soldiers who mobilise are able to so with the knowledge that the training they've completed allows them to measure up to the exacting standards required on operational tours today," he said.

"I'm immensely proud of the regiment because I set them a challenge and they have consistently attained a greater level which has allowed me to raise the bar daily and achieve better results. There is nothing on this exercise that they have done before - there is nothing in their comfort zone. I have soldiers here who have only been in the TA three months who have completed training that soldiers who have been in the TA for 25 years have never done. They've done it without fuss, without complaining. They've just done it."

TA soldiers raise the bar for territorial operational training

RMLY soldiers on exercise in Grafenwoehr

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