Soldiers stationed at Fort George were put through their paces as they prepared for a crucial mission in Kenya.
Jocks from The Royal Regiment of Scotland’s 3 SCOTS Battalion took part in the Duke of Rothesay Patrol competition to test their leadership and tactical skills.
During day two of the exercise, teams ran a two-mile march carrying 20kg of equipment before taking part in a live firing exercise on the range, near Ardersier.
The exercise forms part of the battalion’s training for a two-month operation to Kenya, where they will take part in exercise Bull Storm.
It is all designed to ensure the Scots soldiers are prepared if they have to be deployed to a warzone – and reflects growing concern over the threat posed by Russia.
The Press and Journal was invited to watch the second day of the 3 SCOTS exercise at Fort George.
Kenya operation: ‘It’s a rough environment’
Major Ashley Pendlebury, based at Fort George, says the exercise was designed to test their training, ensure everyone is sharp and prepare the troops for deployment overseas.
Looking ahead to their trip to Kenya, he admits conditions will be ‘rough’ but nothing their training hasn’t prepared them for.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, he said: “Kenya is a well-trodden pathway for the British Army.
“The British Army Training Unit has been there for many years and battalions rotate through there three or four times a year.
“It’s a rough environment. There is hard, rocky terrain. Every bush has an inch-long thorn on it, and you’ll hear the lions, elephants and hyenas.
“There is a genuine threat from wildlife over there.
“But if you can soldier in Scotland when it’s minus 10 degrees and the wind and the rain is coming sideways, you can go to Kenya and you can soldier when it is 30 to 40 degrees, on hard pack sand, crawling around gorse bushes with the fear of lions and hyenas.
“If you can do it in those environments – if and when you need to go to an active warzone anywhere in the world – you know you have done some good honest training and you are well prepared.”
Maj Pendlebury says the exercise is a stepping stone in preparing troops for service on the front line.
He added: “All of the training we do is preparing us to go to war.
“You are not in the army just to sit in the UK.
“We are to be ready for war and ready to deploy wherever the government needs us to deploy, along with our allies.
“My bottom line and I say this to my soldiers, whenever the call comes in – and the call always comes – you’ve got to be ready to go.”
Firing exercise proves to be ‘real team effort’
Weighted down by 20kg of kit, teams jogged around the army barracks twice before making their way to the nearby rifle range to take part in a live firing exercise on Tuesday.
From there, soldiers were given just one minute to hit a target 300 metres away.
Corporal Jake Noble from Fraserburgh was among those taking part in the exercise.
He joined the military 15 years ago and says: “I wanted to do my bit for the nation.”
Speaking just moments after completing the task, he said it had been a good team effort.
He said: “Collectively it was good. It was a really good effort by a strong team.
“It was a good two days. We did really well in the patrol aspect of it yesterday, in regards to working as a team, and then this has been a good test of fitness and firing, which is the real bread and butter as infantry.
“It’s always good having strong individuals but you are only as strong as your weakest man, so we came into it together and finished together.”
Looking ahead to their upcoming deployment, he says the heat is going to be quite the challenge.
“The weather in Kenya is a massive aspect so we need to be physically fit to withstand it,” he said.
“You have got the benefit of the breeze in Scotland, but you won’t get that on the equator.”
Comrade Lance Corporal Cody Gray has been a soldier for over a decade.
Following in the footsteps of his ancestors, the 26-year-old from Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, joined the Highlanders before joining 3 SCOTS.
He says morale is high ahead of their African trip, with the good training giving them a welcome boost.
“The boys are all really fit and they did well in the patrol competition yesterday,” he said.
“It tested all our skills. We are really positive going forward.”
“It was vital we honed our warfighting skills”
Lieutenant Colonel Rob Smith, Commanding Officer 3 SCOTS, said the training is vitally important as the soldiers hone their warfighting skills amid escalating conflicts overseas.
Speaking about the exercise he said: “Today is the second part of the Duke of Rothesay patrol competition.
“It is about junior command and leadership and preparing for warfighting, which for us culminates with a two-month deployment to Kenya as part of exercise Bull Storm.
“That deployment is reflective of the British Army’s clear and unequivocal focus on NATO, the threat that Russia poses and our ability to do our core purpose, which is to fight and win wars on the land.
“It’s a training journey that commenced for us during operation Interflex, when we were deployed for six months, 600 miles behind enemy lines in England, training Ukrainians.”
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