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From drawing ammunition to checking passports and vaccination clinics to weapon handling tests, the readiness of airborne soldiers to go on operations at a moment’s notice has been put to the test.

Colchester-based 16 Air Assault Brigade was put through a no-notice practice mobilisation to check that troops are ready to respond to global crises. Exercise Totemic saw the brigade’s very high readiness task force - currently built around 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) - alerted for a simulated mission to reinforce a NATO ally threatened with invasion.

At barracks across the country, the gunners, engineers, signallers, infantry, logisticians, medics, military police, intelligence experts and aviators that make up the task force checked their documents and personal kit.

Logistics experts from 13 Air Assault Support Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (13 AASR) were among the first to respond, heading from Colchester’s Merville Barracks to the Joint Air Mounting Centre (JAMC) at South Cerney in Gloucestershire to process troops for departure. Convoys of lorries set off around the country to collect supplies and ammunition from contractors to take to JAMC.

With mission planning happening simultaneously, the brigade’s lead elements moved forward to JAMC for final airworthiness checks of their vehicles and equipment. The exercise culminated with Colchester-based elements of the task force – the largest component, with more than 750 soldiers and 350 vehicles – forming up as if ready to depart in convoy to JAMC and then fly off on the operation.

Brigadier Ed Cartwright, Commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said: “Our role as the global response force is about being first to the fight, and winning. Readiness is about ensuring our soldiers are mentally and physically robust, have all the necessary documentation, meet all the training requirements, and that our equipment and vehicles are ready to fly. Through this test mobilisation, we have shown that the brigade has the mindset and the administrative, logistic and planning processes in place to be ready to go at short notice. We have shown that we are ready for war, but we can tailor our force to suit the job asked of us, be that disaster relief or an evacuation operation.”

Lance Corporal Kierin Clark is a military personnel administrator in 2 PARA, with her role to ensure soldiers have the right documentation to deploy.

“We’re checking that everyone’s passport is in order and making sure we’ve got family contact details in case of emergencies, and we’ve had to sort out a few unexpected issues,” she said. “It’s a lot of unseen and unglamourous work that is vital to getting soldiers ready for operations. The last few days we’ve been working so hard, but it’s been rewarding. We all know what we’ve got to do and everyone has just pulled together to get it done.”

Lance Corporal Byron Hickford, of 156 Provost Company Royal Military Police, said: “When my phone rang at 10pm and it was my boss saying we were being mobilised, I knew exactly what to do. Serving in this unit, we know that we must be ready to go at any time. That’s about being mentally prepared just as much as it is about having your kit packed. This training has been very realistic and thorough – if we were going on an operation now, I know what vehicle I’d be going to the airport in.”

Units participating in the training are based in Colchester in Essex; Woodbridge in Suffolk; Catterick in North Yorkshire, Larkhill in Wiltshire, Thorney Island in Hampshire, and Brawdy in Pembrokeshire.

Information and images supplied by Gareth Palmer of Army Communications Branch, images taken by Cpl Stone, British Army.

 

 

 


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