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British Army Exercise Pashtun Tempest
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| Friday, February
3, 2012, 02:22 PM |
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| Royal
Welsh British soldiers prepare for Afghanistan with Exercise Pashtun Tempest. |
More
than 300 British soldiers from 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh have recently
been put through some final battlefield training scenarios in preparation
for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. Exercise Pashtun Tempest
took place on Castlemartin Range in Pembrokeshire, West Wales - a training
area used to stage combined arms live firing exercises. |
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A British soldier keeps alert on a patrol during the exercise
[Picture: Corporal Paul Morrison RLC, Crown Copyright/British MOD 2012]
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In
temperatures plunging below zero degrees Celsius, soldiers were faced
with some of the most demanding and realistic scenarios available outside
of theatre. One such scenario was the extraction of casualties while trying
to avoid enemy improvised explosive devices.
The exercise had a whole host of supporting elements to make it even more
realistic, with the soldiers able to call upon the support that they will
get once they deploy, including the aid of an Apache helicopter overhead
offering covering fire.
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British Soldiers deal with a 'casualty' during the exercise
[Picture: Corporal Paul Morrison RLC, Crown Copyright/British MOD 2012]
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1st
Battalion The Royal Welsh, based in Dale Barracks, Chester, will also
undergo a final battle group training exercise on Salisbury Plain in the
coming weeks in advance of their deployment. The battalion's last tour
of Afghanistan was at the end of 2009 and into 2010.
Lieutenant Colonel Steve
Webb, Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, said his
troops were trained to cope with varying climates and the direct contrast
of the searing heat in Afghanistan would also present a challenge:
"The soldiers are equipped
with the skills they need to prepare them for the forthcoming tour and
I'm very pleased with the way training has gone so far. We've already
undergone individual training and our time in Pembrokeshire will, and
has, further focused teamwork in platoons," he said.
"Afghanistan is still a dangerous place to be and when we deploy
we need to recognise that."
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A British soldier is 'badly wounded' following the detonation of an explosive
device
[Picture: Corporal Paul Morrison RLC, Crown Copyright/British MOD 2012]
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However,
looking at the progress achieved in the country since their last deployment,
he added:
"The Afghan National
Security Forces are more capable than they were two years ago when the
battalion last went to Afghanistan. The Afghan Government is also more
capable than two years ago.
"As we sense it all coming together it gives me confidence we are
doing things right."
Lieutenant Colonel Webb said the battalion's training progression meant
that his soldiers would be in peak condition when the time came to deploy.
On return from operations in Afghanistan in 2010, the battalion joined
12 Mechanised Brigade and completed Exercise Askari Thunder in Kenya
in April/May 2011.
Lieutenant Andrew Young said:
"The standard of soldiers' skills and drills and physical fitness
is quite impressive at the moment. So their fitness will peak when they
go out to Afghanistan."
Swansea soldier, Fusilier Ceri George, is preparing for his second tour
of Afghanistan:
"The training is a simulation of what we will be doing in Afghanistan,"
he said.
Castlemartin Range covers an area of 2,400 hectares within the Pembrokeshire
Coast National Park and contains a wide variety of flora, as well as
some of the finest limestone coastal scenery in the UK. It also has
archaeological and geological interest, with a fossil record of international
significance.
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[Pictures
Gallery : Copyright/British MOD 2012] |
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