Attacking 'Afghan insurgents' on the Canadian prairie

The settlement has been the focus of significant investment at British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) and the new-look infrastructure faced the first serious test of its capabilities in the final days of the latest Exercise Medicine Man.

With Hettar locked under the fierce grip of insurgents, soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh were tasked with regaining control and reinstating the governor ahead of looming elections.

The scenario is typical of what the troops may face in Afghanistan and the village is designed to familiarise them with the environment of Helmand province.

A striking mosque is the focal point of the settlement, which also boasts a bustling marketplace along with endless alleyways and dead-end compounds for the soldiers to negotiate.

Add smoke bombs, screeching fast jets and a civilian population immersed with the insurgents and the realism is virtually complete.

Working systematically through the village, soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh defeated their enemy after several hours of contact.

But as soon as a sense of calm descended, the chaos erupted once more as a suicide bomber targeted the market, bringing new challenges for the troops.

Following the successful completion of the serial, BATUS Commander Colonel Stuart Carver spoke about the changing nature of the training on offer in Canada:

"In line with the rest of the Army, BATUS is moving to a campaign footing in order to support current operations in southern Afghanistan," he said.

"This means that we need to ensure the training conducted here reflects the contemporary operating environment.

"To do this, the exercises have been designed to reflect the complexity of the modern battlefield including an enemy with both a conventional and non-conventional element, the presence of a civilian population, complex terrain including urban areas and a constant media presence. They also ensure that all the force elements and resources available to a modern hybrid battle group are represented.

"The role of BATUS is to provide the foundation training across all functional areas that a battle group needs in order to fully prepare it for the mission-specific training that it will conduct just prior to its deployment on operations.

"By providing these generic foundation skills we are also maintaining a residual capability in the event that the British Army is required to deploy to a theatre other than Afghanistan in the future."

The key elements described by Col Carver were certainly evident in Hettar, as they were just days earlier when elements of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment were tasked with a rescue mission on a downed Sea King helicopter.

On their arrival the soldiers had to evacuate a number of casualties from the wreckage while dealing with a persistent media team and a strong civilian presence.

With smoke billowing from the aircraft and tension created by a potential insurgent attack, the exercise provided invaluable experience of what the soldiers may face in Afghanistan:

"It was a brilliant serial," said Major Jim Carver of Badger Squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.

"The stuff at the front end of the exercise is great training for us. The boys are responding in the most positive way as they can see the relevance in this.

"It was a very complex situation. We had to deal with the police, the army, insurgents and the press, who were all there before us, and the casualties had such realistic injuries.

"This is not pre-deployment training but it is extremely relevant. It is engaging and will certainly help. The squadron has had the most fantastic time."

This article is taken from SOLDIER - Magazine of the British Army.