More than a thousand soldiers from the British Army and 37 international armies across the world are preparing themselves for Exercise Cambrian Patrol say the British Army.
Exercise Cambrian Patrol is an annual event organised and run by 160th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Wales, based in Brecon.
The exercise is the largest of its kind with some foreign entrants having to claim the right to take part in the UK by winning through their own domestic competition.
This year 137 patrols have entered, including six overseas armies taking part for the first time with soldiers from Nigeria, Macedonia, Cyprus, Belarus and Finland having their first crack at completing the patrol and aiming to navigate their way through the arduous terrain of the Black Mountains of Mid Wales say the Army.
This year’s exercise runs from Friday, October 12th through to Sunday, October 21st.
According to a British Army press release:
“On arriving at the Patrol Base teams, made up of eight soldiers, will be subjected to a thorough check to ensure that they are in possession of the correct kit, equipment and clothing required for the exercise.
Patrol commanders will then be given a set of orders based on a specific scenario involving enemy forces for onward briefing to members of their patrol. They must battle prep and map out a designated route, along which they must navigate through, day and night, and deal with a set of stands: these include casualty evacuation scenarios, dealing with mock improvised explosive device finds, intelligence gathering, seeking protective measures against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, a water crossing, close-target reconnaissance and others.”
The two-day patrolling mission is a mind-and-muscle sapping 60km, carrying full personal kit and equipment weighing in at 32lbs. At the completion of the exercise each patrol faces a comprehensive debriefing session.
Army navy and air force seems to be in full flow at the moment Shame government doesn’t seem to notice or care. Is there a civilian version of this event that anyone knows about?
I did this last year – it was truly disgusting. Good memories though.
This must bring in quite a bit of money for the local economy. How much interaction is there between people doing this and the locals as I can see it being a pretty good opportunity for them to meet people from loads of places which is always a good thing.
There is little or no interaction during the patrol. The locals are even primed to report soldiers if seen on or around their property the same as any indigenous locals would. The main effort of the teams is long-range reconnaissance and therefore have to remain hidden to a large degree. At least one event that I am aware of was a team asking a local farmer to give them a lift in his land rover to another location, he dropped them at the main guardroom of Sennybridge camp!
And on leaving Sennybridge with 8 men the Nigerian team arrive in London, closely followed by the Belarus team, to claim asylum and state their lives are at risk if they stay in Wales any longer! While the Finnish team are thinking that they are so lucky to get a nice warm long weekend in Wales! Have fun boys, it’s hard but a good quality bit of basic foundation soldiering.
Jane’s is reporting that the USA is seeking proposals for new infantry carbines/rifles/light machineguns in 6.8mm calibre.