Over 150 Royal Navy Reservists and Royal Marines came together in Ballykinler, Northern Ireland, for Exercise Northern Star, an annual training event designed to sharpen operational readiness for deployments around the world.
According to a Royal Navy news update, the two-day exercise involved personnel from thirteen Royal Naval Reserve units, RAF Reserves from 502 Squadron, and students from University Royal Naval Units (URNUs).
For the first time, the event also included a Royal Navy warship—HMS Biter, a P2000-class patrol vessel—introducing a new level of maritime realism to the training.
Commander Kurt Courtney, Commanding Officer of HMS Hibernia, the Royal Naval Reserve unit based in Northern Ireland and host of the event, described the exercise as “a rare opportunity to bring Maritime Reservists from across the UK together in one place, developing key skills in a dynamic and challenging environment.”
He added that this year’s training was especially notable for including HMS Biter, enhancing the maritime element of the scenarios. “Another key aspect was employer engagement on the Saturday, allowing civilian employers to see first-hand the valuable skills their Reservists develop – skills that not only benefit military operations but are also highly transferable to their civilian careers,” Courtney said.
Exercise Northern Star featured training in vehicle stop and search procedures, building clearance, first aid, weapons handling, and mass casualty evacuation. It concluded with a complex simulated Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO), replicating the extraction of British and NATO civilians from a conflict zone.
WO1 Andrew Holmes of RNR Training HQ, who has attended the exercise for the past three years, praised the ongoing growth of the event in the news update: “The exercise keeps growing, with more participants from the RAF, Royal Marines, plus the URNU. Having the URNU involved as role players adds value to the training.”
He highlighted the exercise’s practical nature, saying: “This kind of hands-on, practical experience is exactly what Reservists need and enjoy. While we aim to get Reservists to sea, this exercise provides a great opportunity to apply their training in a realistic setting.”
Surely – ‘Reservists train in Northern Ireland for global operations’ would be more fitting? 🙂
I never quite get the Navy deciding their dress state should be blue uniform with MTP helmets and webbing, it looks so naff, and it’s not like they don’t have MTP.
(Also if you are going to wear webbing, and especially a day sack, put something in it! Otherwise you might as well leave it at home for all the training benefit you get out of it).