News Article

IN PICTURES: Welsh Guards in jungle storm

A Training and Adventure news article

21 Dec 07

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards have just completed a gruelling six-week exercise in Belize, Central America.

The culmination of the exercise was a dawn attack on the "enemy" - supplied by the local Belize Defence Force [Picture: Sergeant Mick Howard RLC]

The culmination of the exercise was a dawn attack on the "enemy" - supplied by the local Belize Defence Force
[Picture: Sergeant Mick Howard RLC]

Exercise Tropical Storm saw the soldiers develop their offensive operation skills in the jungle environment, practise jungle survival techniques and learn amphibious assault skills.

They also undertook a Basic Jungle Package where they learned how to live, fight and move in the jungle. A survival day saw the soldiers taught to trap, kill and prepare food in the jungle, culminating in a feast of spit roasted pig and chicken. The Battalion spent time in jungle camps specially designed to teach the skills required to live and survive in the jungle.

See Related Links >>> for more pictures from Exercise Tropical Storm

Some of the challenges facing the Welsh Guards included snakes and scorpions, dense vegetation with sharp spikes and a 'white sap' released from trees should they be hacked with a machete, which is heavily alkaline and will burn the skin.

The final phase of the training saw the soldiers learning advanced jungle skills, including a riverine package and the fundamentals of tracking. The soldiers then spent 24 days living in the field without any of the comforts of home, often in searing temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius, eating nothing but ration packs and drinking upwards of 10 – 15 litres of water a day. The culmination of the exercise was a dawn attack with 450 bearded, dirty soldiers who hadn't showered for 28 days swooping down on the enemy, kindly supplied by the local Belize Defence Force.





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