Paratroopers have learnt how to survive and fight in the jungles of Belize, which will make them better soldiers in any conditions.
Lance Corporal Stone from B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, passed on the bearing to the rest of the section, using hand signals as they are tested on navigation in the jungle.
Paratrooper from B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, passed on a hand signal for a snap ambush as they practiced their drills in the jungle.
Paratrooper from B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, observed his arcs in a snap ambush in the jungle.
Paratrooper from B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, shouted “break man” when conducting contact drills in the jungle.
Paratrooper from B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, engaged the enemy whilst conducting contact drills in the jungle.
Paratrooper from B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, engaged the enemy as they peeled right during contact drills in the jungle.
3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) took on the jungle's hot and humid environment, thick vegetation, and wildlife on Exercise Mayan Cyclone. The conditions make for uncomfortable living and create difficulties with communication and navigation.
Learning jungle survival skills
The paratroopers lived in the jungle throughout the month-long training. They started by learning basic survival skills – such as how to build shelters and find water – then trained on tactics, and live fire battle drills. A seven-day simulated mission tested all the skills they had learnt.
The training is to make sure that the Colchester-based paratroopers are ready to work in any environment in their role serving with 16 Air Assault Brigade, the British Army's global response force.
Major Louis Maclaren, Officer Commanding B Company 3 PARA, said that soldiers had learnt more than the specifics of working in the jungle.
"Belize is the only place that the British Army regularly trains where a unit will spend a month unsupported in a hostile environment," he said.
"The jungle provides a genuine risk to life and brings friction that you must adapt to and overcome."
"The jungle provides a genuine risk to life and brings friction that you must adapt to and overcome. That mindset is essential for airborne operations, where we are isolated by design and must rely on the equipment we have deployed with.
"Just being in the jungle quickly degrades people's health and fitness. Carrying and drinking enough water to stay hydrated is a challenge, small injuries are more likely to become infected, and your body is wet all the time. Personal administration, which is the lowest level of a soldier's skills, need to be delivered at the highest level."
Looking after yourself and your equipment
Lance Corporal Harry Stone said that in the jungle you "have to do the basics times 10".
"You really have to look after yourself and your kit," he said. "You can't get away with powdering your feet or cleaning your rifle once a day, you've got to keep on top of it all the time. As Second-in-Command of a section, I have to make sure that the more junior soldiers are looking after themselves as well."
"Time management is much harder in the jungle, because there's so much more to do."
Lance Corporal Jake Threlfall said: "Time management is much harder in the jungle, because there's so much more to do. Looking after yourself and your kit needs more work than usual; the terrain is very undulating with dense trees, so it's hard to move quietly and quickly; and the heat and humidity takes it out of you."
The thick vegetation of the jungle absorbs electronic signals, making radio communication harder and navigation by GPS unreliable.
Maj Maclaren said that in the jungle a commander cannot be "the puppet master" that they might be in open countryside.
"You can't be in constant radio communication with your platoons and know their positions at any time," he said. "You need to fix a rendezvous and trust that everyone will be there up to 36 hours later. You need to make sure that your intent and contingency plans are understood, because you can't be the puppet master.
"A soldier who can operate effectively in the jungle is better prepared for any mission, in any environment, against any enemy."
"The jungle forces leaders at every level to take responsibility for their teams and individuals to take responsibility for themselves. A soldier who can operate effectively in the jungle is better prepared for any mission, in any environment, against any enemy."
Some 170 soldiers from 3 PARA's B and D Companies, supported by personnel from 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment and 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, took part in the exercise.