Soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade have been adding to their repertoire of airborne skills alongside Army aviators at RAF Brize Norton say the MoD.

The troops from the Patrols and Sniper Platoons of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, The Parachute Regiment (2 & 3 PARA) – who specialise in forward reconnaissance and provide the eyes and ears of the battlegroup – have been learning to fast-rope from the Wildcat, the latest hi-tech addition to the Army’s helicopter fleet.

Captain Jack Maughan, Officer Commanding 3 PARA’s Patrols Platoon, said:

“Because of rural or urban terrain being complex and dense in some areas, you couldn’t land a helicopter and you couldn’t get in by any of the normal means or on foot. So to insert a small reconnaissance group in by helicopter through fast-rope or abseil allows commanders back with the rest of the battlegroup to get more situational understanding of the ground.

Jumping from an aircraft is high-risk, but it offers a lot of utility and it takes a lot of courage to do. It’s the nature of a paratrooper that he’s prepared to jump out of a plane, or to fast-rope or abseil. It’s an innate confidence that comes from the high quality of men we select.”

Lance Corporal James Lindsay of 2 PARA’s Patrols Platoon said:

“It’s progressive, like anything in the Army. You start off quite slow and steady, and then it’s a big push out of the door and then you’re straight into it. It’s good training, plenty of adrenaline. You always get a few shaky ones, but everybody performed, everybody got out of the door, and everybody did their job, so that’s the important thing.

Even though there’s a danger element to it, without knowing it you’ve got the training within you, so you perform and you do exactly what you’re supposed to do, and that’s the end-product of this kind of training.”

Avatar photo
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

6 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Gunbuster
Gunbuster
5 years ago

Matlots….
Been there…done that.
Part of the boarding team repertoire.
The training is OK when you start off with just your combats on but then you add a rifle, pistol, baton, body armor, search kit, radio etc to the mix then you invariably end up going down the rope way to fast and landing like a sack of spuds at the bottom.

Good fun though…it beats climbing 40m up a rope ladder to get on a tanker anchored in the NAG.

Anon
Anon
5 years ago

Thank you for your service ?

40m climbs? What ships were you boarding?! ??

Gunbister
Gunbister
5 years ago
Reply to  Anon

Huffing big tankers waiting to get filled at the OPLATs

Gunbuster
Gunbuster
5 years ago
Reply to  Gunbister

And car transporters. Full of right hand drive cars from the far east that get converted in Iraq to LH drive…
Container Ships…Container searching involved abseiling down the front of container stacks, tying off and then opening them for searching.

David
David
5 years ago

Interesting – to think these same Wildcats were on the potential chopping block just a few months ago to save Albion/Bulwark! Crazy……

Any updates on the forthcoming Modernising Defence with Mr Williamson? Isn’t it past due??

T.S
5 years ago
Reply to  David

I read that it is unlikely to be finalised until they know if a financial package will be on the cards at the next budget in the Autumn. If there’s not I expect ruthless cuts to prove a point…. I reckon some major capabilities will be cut that really raises our allies eyebrows and piles the pressure onto the Government