The following article is taken from the latest issue of the Globe & Laurel magazine.
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A contingent of ten RMR ranks made their way to Bickleigh Barracks in early September 2023 for a six-month Ships Force Protection Team deployment. Representing various detachments from London, Bristol and Scotland we were the first RMR ranks to be tasked to take on this role which the RMR is looking to contribute more actively to going forward.
Despite coming from different parts of the country many of us had crossed paths at some point during or after training and so there were familiar faces. After settling into our accommodation overnight, we went straight into the course the following morning. The team was welcomed into Lima Company, but owing to the nature of the SFPT course we were mixed in with lads from across 42’s various Companies.
After getting briefed on the broad outlines of what SFPT taskings involved, we split up into the groups we would be in for the next three weeks. Each week was devoted to learning the three different weapon systems to be used onboard as well as the protocols for escalating and de-escalating force in response to the threats that we could potentially face in theatre, alongside the postures we would assume according to threat levels – again situation-dependent. Naturally, moving in and out of ports, as well as through choke points and contested areas, such as the Strait of Hormuz, would be the most exposed positions.

Our time doing pre-deployment training with 42 Cdo RM flew by, and we quickly got to grips with the course material and general camp life, with plenty of phys, galley scran and trips to the China Fleet Country Club. A few of us were lacking GPMG ACMTs so managed to qualify before the culminating shoot at Lulworth Ranges. This involved both a day and night shoot of all the weapon systems we had trained on over the previous weeks. One of the main takeaways being that while the Mk44 Minigun is fun to fire, the brass sweep after is less so. A final tick in the box prior to deployment was the Sea Survival Course taught at HMS Raleigh. We learned the basics of how to handle fires on ship as well as responding to flooding – being dropped into a metal box which was rapidly filled with freezing oggin while we desperately struggled to hammer in wooden wedges to plug the holes, was a particularly evocative learning evolution.
Suitably qualified, we were good to go and touched down in Bahrain in early October. Exiting the airport into what felt like a sauna, there was no doubt we were in the Middle East. After a sweaty and bleary eyed, but thankfully short coach ride, we boarded RFA Cardigan Bay, our home for the next four months. The ship has a plethora of tasks, including providing humanitarian aid if or when required.
After a quick handover with the team we were relieving the next day, our first month was largely spent alongside, familiarising ourselves with the ship’s layout, getting to grips with our roles and acclimatising to the heat.
Our Team Leader being a Platoon Weapons Instructor, also meant that we would spend a lot of time practising and perfecting our CQB skills for the particular challenges offered by being on ship; tight corridors, variations in types of doors etc. We also used this initial period to produce and deliver personal interest lectures, ranging in subject matter from current conflicts to battlefield studies – refining our research and presentation skills.
After a passage through the Strait of Hormuz, we were afforded……..To find out more about Ships Force Protection Ops and RM activities across the globe, catch up regularly with all the news in the Globe & Laurel Magazine, the Journal of the
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