The Royal Artillery

29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery

We hold a unique capability within the Royal Artillery. We are the Commando Gunners and we provide offensive support to 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines. We are a regiment of Army Commandos held at Very High Readiness (VHR) and we specialise in amphibious operations, mountain, desert, jungle and arctic warfare.

Our Regiment

Few roles offer the same combination of challenge, responsibility and adventure as service with 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.

The Regiment provides the United Kingdom Commando Force with find, protect and strike capabilities, together with specialist targeting expertise.

To become a Commando Gunner you must pass the All Arms Commando Course.

This arduous course is held at Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Lympstone, Devon. On completing the course, you will earn the coveted green beret and a place within the Commando family.

As experts in Arctic and littoral warfare, Commando Gunners must be prepared to operate in the world’s most demanding environments. Whether inserting by small boat, over-snow reconnaissance vehicle, vertical assault, parachute or on foot, our people work at reach, think independently and make important decisions when it matters most.

Drawing on the expertise of some of Defence’s most capable soldiers, sailors, marines and aviators, the Regiment’s personnel command 105mm Light Guns, lead Fire Support Teams or coordinate effects from aircraft, attack helicopters, Royal Navy ships, mortars, uncrewed air systems and emerging one-way effectors. The Regiment also provides the Commando Force’s air defence capability.

The Regiment comprises five Batteries, including three equipment Batteries, a Forward Observation Battery and a Headquarters Battery responsible for Commando training and capability development.

A career with 29 Commando Regiment is demanding, distinctive and immensely rewarding. For soldiers and officers seeking early responsibility, professional excellence and the opportunity to lead at high readiness across the globe, there are few better places to serve.

Active from:

15 May 1962

We hold a unique capability within the Royal Artillery. We are the Commando Gunners and we provide offensive support to 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines.

We are a regiment of Army Commandos held at Very High Readiness (VHR) and we specialise in amphibious operations, mountain, desert, jungle and arctic warfare.

The Regiment also provides the Commando Force’s air defence capability.

Our capabilities include:

Light Gun Detachments: 29 Commando Royal Artillery fields 105mm Light Gun, with a team of six gunners we can reach an average rate of fire of six to eight rounds per minute with a max range of 17.2 kilometers.
Lightweight and versatile we can transport the guns by land, sea or air. We often use helicopters and landing craft to deploy the guns onto the battlefield.
As a six-person Light Gun detachment you will fire artillery ammunition in support of the operation.

Fire Support Teams

They coordinate effects from surface-to-surface systems, aircraft, attack helicopters, Royal Navy ships, mortars, uncrewed air systems and emerging one-way effectors.

The Fire Support Teams (FSTs) deploy far forward, often ahead of the infantry, and they identify the enemy and engage them early with artillery, mortars, attack helicopters, naval gunfire or close air support (CAS). The FSTs are there to deal with the enemy before the infantry encounter with them. They deploy either within an infantry company or independently.

A Commando FST will carry a lot of heavy equipment. The FST will need to deploy with sufficient observation equipment, radios, ammunition and rations to last them for the duration of their mission; this could be many days.

As a Fire Support Team member your job is to both find and strike the enemy.

Logistician

As an artillery logistician you will provide logistics from ammunition and vehicles to clothing and rations. This vital role is essential to sustaining the Regiment during an operational deployment. Logistics are crucial to facilitate the rapid response of artillery fire when deployed on operations.

We have our own artillery logistics specialists and they ensure that the Regiment is fully resourced with all essential supplies.

Communicator

Without communications have no way of telling our guns and aircraft where, when or what to fire.

Communication is critical to us and our specialist communicators are key to maintaining the link with our forward observers.

No matter how hostile the environment or how difficult the terrain, our communicators will maintain our communications.

As an ACS operator you will establish and maintain communications and your role is essential to our operational success.

Special Observers

The Regiment has a battery of ‘Special Observers’: 148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery Royal Artillery (148 Cdo FO Bty RA). The Battery is specially trained to operate in the ‘Deep’ battlespace. They will be some of the very first elements of the Brigade to deploy and they will operate a long way forward of the infantry units.

The Battery are part of the Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS) and they are trained to infiltrate by helicopter, boat, parachute, vehicle, ski and foot.

148 Cdo FO Bty RA are trained to deliver all forms of air and surface delivered fires and are the UK’s specialists in controlling naval gunfire support.

As a Special Observer you will be one of the very first to deploy and you will be tasked with the early identification and engagement of targets.

We also have the following capabilities within our regiment

Naval Gunfire Forward Observers
Joint Terminal Attack Controllers
Parachutists
Coxswains

As part of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, we routinely deploy around the world and to a number of very different environments.

Arctic (Norway)
Temperate (UK and America)
Desert (Oman
Jungle (Brunei, Belize, Singapore)