British Army explosive ordnance disposal specialists have conducted urban warfare training at Catterick Garrison, practising building clearance, live tactical movement and close cooperation between specialist teams, the UK Defence Journal understands.
Personnel from 521 EOD Squadron, part of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, carried out a series of training serials intended to maintain core soldiering skills alongside their specialist bomb disposal and search responsibilities.
According to a British Army news update, the exercise included blank firing, building clearance and platoon-level urban tactics designed to prepare personnel for operations in built-up areas.
The activity formed part of a Squadron-level Individual Training Requirement exercise and brought together personnel with different specialist roles to test individual competence, team integration and command and control.
Major Matthew Coleman, Officer Commanding, said, as quoted in a news update: “Today is bringing us back to basics from our normal day job.”
He added: “Today is hugely important, the junior and senior members of the team are all working together and preparing themselves for what they would need to do in a real-life urban warfare situation.”
Although the regiment is principally associated with explosive ordnance disposal and specialist search operations, its personnel must also retain the ability to operate as soldiers in environments where their technical tasks may be carried out alongside conventional combat activity.
11 EOD and Search Regiment has around 650 personnel drawn from several branches of the Army. Its workforce includes Royal Logistic Corps ammunition technicians, Royal Signals specialists, Royal Engineers search teams and intelligence personnel. The Catterick exercise required those different elements to operate together under time pressure while practising the procedures needed to move through and secure urban terrain.
For Lance Corporal James Tunstall, an Electronic Warfare and Signals Intelligence systems operator, the exercise also provided experience in instructing other members of the unit.
“Today is about training the troop in urban tactics, making sure we’re all fully trained and everyone has an awareness of what urban training is,” he said, as quoted in the news update. Tunstall, who had recently qualified as an instructor, said teaching the drills presented a different challenge from carrying them out himself.
“Learning it is very different to teaching it… personally instructing is a lot more difficult,” he said. He added: “Today has given me the knowledge that I need to learn the drills better in order to know how to instruct them better.”
The training also placed personnel in positions requiring them to work closely with colleagues across different specialisms. Tunstall said: “It benefits the whole team to try and work together in close proximity, it’s definitely beneficial to the whole team and individually too.”
Timely.
Reminds me of one of our mantras in REME…’Soldier first, tradesman second’.
As an ex-matelot and therefore obviously an expert in urban warfare tactics! Why is the guy on the right holding the rifle like that, also the guy on the left, should it not be in his shoulder and why is he holding the barrel with his bare hands and not using the front grippy thing?
(I actually did boarding party on 2x ships, I was comms, Caribbean and various Adriatic deployments, a lot of being shouted at for not keeping up with the marines, dunker and fast rope training, they were the days!)
So having done urban CQB training a couple of times myself, although not with an l85, and certainly not with an A2, in a while: Both are correct techniques (although individual execution may leave a little to be desired, but that’s what training is for).
Guy on the right is using what’s called a C clamp grip, which is very common in CQB training*. The principle is that that particular grip exerts downward pressure on the barrel counteracting the propensity of a barrel to climb and making it easier to place rapid follow up shots in a smaller group. I believe guy on the left is trying to do the same thing but has managed to get his hand on the actual barrel, rather than the shroud, a mistake you don’t make many times.
As for not having the rifle in the shoulder, that too is a taught technique. By raising it above your shoulder it shortens the barrel either so that it doesn’t stick out into a doorway (which would be a great indicator for someone on the other side of the door), so that it doesn’t get in the way of your oppo going through the door, and, if your slick with it, it’s faster and easier to get on target since the barrel needs to travel less physical distance as you rotate through the door.
Re “front grippy thing” (the vertical bipod). Personally can’t stand them and they’re largely absent from L85A3 and L403 for a reason. I usually swapped mine out for a COTS 45degree angled grip if I had a CoC that didn’t kick off about it. As can be seen here, it also makes a C-grip hard to do without grabbing the barrel (though I think you’d still be at risk of grabbing the gas block). Personal feelings: I wouldn’t use either the vertical bipod or a C clamp grip with an A2.
*the C clamp grip technique is very common with AR-15 derivatives, I should say. It’s worked it’s way into service in the UK probably through UKSF, Close Protection teams, 43 Commando, and later Rangers and other Commandos, all of whom use AR derivatives rather than L85’s. Eventually with the adoption of the A3 it also completed it’s filter down to Line Infantry, who’d sometimes used it for L129’s in CQB (not sure how widespread this was, but saw it in unit’s I was in). The issue as you and I both have kind of alluded too, is that AR15 derrivatives have chonky front handguards, while the L85 A2 has some exposed barrel which can result in burns.
Anyway, these guys are pretty REMF-y. Good on them for giving it a go, but also bit of a waste booking one of two first rate CQB facilities purpose built for Simmunition use and then to go through it with BFA’s and Blanks.
Cheers Dern brilliant explanation!
There are so many things you probably need to know mate but firstly the guy on the right doesn’t need to hold the front “grippy thing” lol as firstly the grippy thing is great for Hollywood but quite poop (and uncomfortable) for accurate shooting, and the guy on the left doesn’t need it in the shoulder as that’s not his immediate job! And these blokes are EOD and after watching the EOD blokes in Afghan they need to keep a hand free to make sure their massive balls don’t get in the way 😂👍
Ah the first guy on the left, (sorry just read your post again) not the second, my apologies, the first guy won’t put it in the shoulder as the weapon can be seen as he approaches/turns a corner/doorway, and it’s quite easy to lower the weapon down into a fire position once they turn/enter. All good fun 👍
Cheers mate!