Military Use

The remote, rugged, challenging terrain and changeable climate of Dartmoor provide vital and demanding training for the Armed Forces.

Dartmoor is particularly suited for the training of light forces such as the Royal Marines.  Because of the boggy terrain, Dartmoor is not suitable for tanks or heavy tracked vehicles.

Dartmoor provides a valuable training area for the following regional military units:

• Royal Naval Base at Devonport
• HMS Raleigh (the Royal Navy’s main shore training establishment) at Torpoint
• Brittania Royal Naval College at Dartmouth
• Royal Naval Air Stations at Culdrose and Yeovilton
• The units of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines in Plymouth, Taunton and Barnstaple
• The Commando Training Centre at Lympstone
• 43 Wessex Brigade and its units based in the South West
• Joint Survival School at St Mawgan

In the same way that units based in the South West occasionally travel further afield to train elsewhere, so other units from across the UK also travel to Dartmoor to benefit from its unique features and facilities.