Royal Irish prepare to Spearhead UK's emergency response

The unit, which is based at Clive Barracks in Tern Hill, Shropshire, returned from Afghanistan last year after a tough six-month tour and has now taken on the responsibility of becoming the Spearhead Land Element (SLE).

The role of the SLE involves being put on 24-hours' notice to move to any area of the world where British military assistance is required.

In preparation for the role, which could see them dealing with anything from a natural disaster to civil unrest, the nine-hundred-strong Royal Irish Battle Group descended on Salisbury Plain for a three-week exercise designed to test the soldiers' resilience and capability in a range of different scenarios.

Through driving rain, the men and women moved across the plain to secure towns and villages and free hostages, dealing with detainees and both civilian and military casualties along the way.

In a spectacular night-time clash with enemy forces, flares hurtled through the sky as the troops stormed a village deep in the heart of the plain.

The Battle Group organised and carried out a series of helicopter drops across the training area, delivering humanitarian aid to the local population, as well as protecting convoys bringing supplies to remote areas.

The attached Royal Engineer elements were tested in their ability to restore key infrastructure as they undertook the rebuilding of a bridge on the plain.

Amongst the soldiers on the exercise was Sapper Chris Lee:

"I deal mainly with the construction side of things. On this exercise I've been doing recce [reconnaissance] for the Engineers which is going out where an IED [improvised explosive device] has exploded in the road; we can construct something so that the infantry can get around it," he said.

"We also do it for natural barriers like rivers; we construct a bridge so that the infantry can get across quicker."

The soldiers wore 'Tactical Engagement Simulation' kit, consisting of a vest and helmet with sensors attached.

The sensors tell the soldier when he has been shot, blown up or injured in any other way, allowing company medics to test their skills in keeping their men fit and healthy for the duration of the operation. The kit is also fitted with a satellite tracking system to allow commanders to see troop formations on the ground.

Using interpreters, the soldiers liaised with and collected intelligence from Afghan nationals acting as a real civilian population across the training area.

A number of real military amputees also came back to the field to play the part of injured soldiers.

Make-up artists imitated some horrifically realistic wounds on the amputees, which tested the medics in their ability to deal with the reality of the type of injuries that they are likely to encounter during their careers.

Lance Corporal Michelle Norris, the first female soldier to win the Military Cross, was also on the exercise. A combat medic currently serving with 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, she said:

"This exercise is good because it allows me to brush up my infantry skills rather than just medical skills. Now that I'm attached to an infantry unit I'll be out on the ground with them as a company medic on any future tours.

"It's quite daunting because I've known them for a year now and we've become very close friends so if we get a casualty it will be a bit scary but it's one of those things you just have to forget about and get on with the job.

"It's difficult when you know the person who is injured because you want to try everything for that person but sometimes you can't always do everything. Sometimes little is best. You always think in your head, I could have done this, I could have done that, afterwards. It's hard to forget about it.

"I've done two tours of Iraq and they were completely different. In 2006 I was attached to The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and was out on the ground on foot patrol.

"In 2007/8 I worked in the hospital in Iraq. The first tour was more challenging because it was all new to me.

"Because of the Military Cross some of the lads have a bit of banter with me about being a war hero but it's just a joke. I know that I'm not perfect, that I still have a lot to learn. For me, every day's a school day."

Lieutenant Colonel Ed Freely, Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, said that the training was vital to ensure that they were as practised as they possibly could be for the challenges that lay ahead. He said:

"The whole point of this exercise is to prepare us for operations so we are tested in lots of different scenarios to see if we can cope and that decides whether we are ready to deploy or not.

"One of the primary focuses for us is the SLE requirement which will see us become the 24-hour notice to move worldwide deployable UK high readiness force for the next four months.

"It is a very unpredictable role and we simply don't know whether we will be used or not. The last time it was used was in 2007 to evacuate British and other entitled personnel from the Lebanon and I think before that an element was used in Kosovo to reinforce when there was a little local difficulty just north west of Pristina.

"Whether we deploy will very much depend on global events and the UK Government's view of them; whether they wish to commit forces.

"The SLE is not a high-end conflict tool. It is a lower threat response mechanism to something like a non-combatant evacuation operation, so if there were UK people beleaguered in a country which was collapsing then we might go and help repatriate them, or disaster relief or humanitarian aid or even reaction within the British Isles to something like flooding.

"This exercise has thrown at us a hybrid of scenarios in order to stretch and test us to ensure that we are ready for anything. We have to be ready to adapt to changing circumstances. The boys have done really well. No matter what is thrown at them they pull it out of the bag every time."