The following article is taken from the latest issue of the Globe & Laurel magazine.
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Ex Tartan Eagle 23 saw Brac Tp, O Sqn, travel from HMNB Clyde to Chesapeake, Virginia. Here we conducted a two-week exercise consisting of marksmanship training and live fire CQB alongside USMC counterparts from Kings Bay and Bangor Naval Bases. The first week focused on practising transition drills, speed reloads and finished with a competition shoot. With the second week spent on CQB tactics and conducting live fire kill house runs through. The exercise culminated in a Full Mission Profile (FMP) which involved scenarios that we could encounter while at our operational locations.
Our first day started off with the USMC instructors introducing us to their weapon systems, the M4A1 and Sig M18 pistol. They took us through the weapon handling differences between their weapons and the C8 and Glock we use. We then spent a full day shooting the Sig M18 pistol from three to 25 metres, going through different drills and really focusing on accuracy whilst increasing our speed from the draw. This allowed us to be both accurate and fast when going onto the next phase of transition drills. After spending most of the week conducting static lane firing, we finished with some competition shoots against the US Marines. This was a highlight of the trip as it was the first time most of us had had the opportunity to try this type of shooting. The results were 3-1 in favour of the Royal Marines of 43 Commando.
After a hard week on the ranges we went on liberty, or as we call it, weekend leave. The lads got together to enjoy some well-earned time in Virginia Beach and Washington DC, being guided through American culture by our US brethren.
After our weekend off it was straight back to work, going over the CQB doctrine from both sides and exploring the differences between the two. Further practice progressed to using live ammunition in a two-storey kill house. Being taught by the USMC instructors and our Unit Training Office was a great learning experience, everyone involved improved their skills. We practised setting up on the door, complicated room problems and clearing up stairs. This massively improved our operational capability and let us put skills we had rehearsed while at HMNB Clyde into practice. This is a type of training we don’t get to conduct while back in the UK, giving us a unique experience to take back home.
To finish off the exercise we applied all the skills we had practised over the previous two weeks to an FMP based on our operational locations back in the UK. The scenario we faced was a group of unknown occupants gaining access to critical national infrastructure and trying to sabotage sensitive assets. We cordoned off the area so that our Recapture Tactics Team could clear through the building, dealing with occupants ranging from armed individuals to civilians working in the area. Throughout this we were using force-on-force simunition, creating a realistic environment. This ended our OTX in the US and soon after we headed back to the UK to resume our normal duties at HMNB Clyde, wiser and more skilled than before we deployed.
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