Reconnaissance troops from 1st Deep Recce Strike Brigade deployed on the Brigade’s first overseas training exercise abroad since it was formed in the summer.

104 soldiers from The Royal Yeomanry and 1st the Queen’s Dragoon Guards have been in Gibraltar practising combat and reconnaissance skills in an urban environment.

Gibraltar’s tunnel system was used to challenge the soldiers and test their ability to fight in darkness. Underground training has been a part of military training for many years and with restricted views, narrow choke points and close enemy engagements, it takes time to master. In a press release, the British Army say that a Lance Corporal stripe is on the horizon for 24 of the soldiers who went to Gibraltar as Troopers and, having completed the Army Leadership Development Programme, return to their units ready to be promoted.

“The course was described by some as “the most intense and demanding exercise that they’ve ever had to do in the army”. The Royal Yeomanry and 1st The Queen Dragoon Guards, also known as The Welsh Cavalry, are both reconnaissance regiments, seeking out information about the enemy and the terrain. Together they combine to form the light cavalry reconnaissance component of the new Brigade. The Royal Yeomanry is the largest reserve light cavalry regiment in the Army.

The two-week exercise – Exercise Barbary Star – has been the culmination of months of training aimed at testing the soldiers basic military skills to ready them for any future operations. The soldiers came ashore on landing crafts in a dramatic display and once ashore, they quickly patrolled through the streets of Gibraltar to reach a stealth observation post on the Rock of Gibraltar itself. The soldiers combat skills were then put to the test when they had to fight their way through the urban operations training facility, navigating through the simulated village clearing buildings, rooftops and access points.”

Corporal Searle was quoted as saying:

“Urban operations bring unique challenges not present in other environments. Contact with the enemy can be at very close quarters so the soldiers must be alert and vigilant. For example, roads could be easily used to direct soldiers into a certain area where they could be ambushed. They continually have to evaluate the changing risks as they navigate through the simulated village. In an urban environment the enemy can be in the air, on the ground or beneath their feet. There are a multitude of threats to think about, including drones.”

You can read more here.

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Lisa has a degree in Media & Communication from Glasgow Caledonian University and works with industry news, sifting through press releases in addition to moderating website comments.
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Ian
Ian
1 year ago

Good camouflage. Are we expecting more trouble from Spain I wonder

Simon
Simon
1 year ago
Reply to  Ian

They have staged Putin’s bunker down there. Rishi playing it cool.

farouk
farouk
1 year ago

Funny enough for all my travels, its one place I’ve never been to. Know quite a few people who have served there , just not me.

IanbUK
IanbUK
1 year ago

Oh those tunnels bring back font memories. They take an age to get used to. After a posting to Gib where you play in them for a few months (when the ex-squaddie apes are not showing tourists around them that is), you find all sorts of graffiti scrawled by someone’s gr, gr, gr, gr, gr, gr, gr grandfather.

Gavin Gordon
Gavin Gordon
1 year ago
Reply to  IanbUK

A baptism of fire?

Palaboran
Palaboran
1 year ago

They rested some new night vision equipment, it’s called “Tunnel Vision”.

FormerUSAF
FormerUSAF
1 year ago

Alright, believe everyone should be allowed an occasional ignorant question. My current submission: Has the MoD/RN ever given serious consideration to the development of protected berthings for SSNs/SSBNs at Gib? Realize that it would be a significant infrastructure project, but these are the highest value targets to protect. In addition to a cave system to quarter a protection force of RM, there are rhe benefits of the mountain topography and structure. In addition, contemplate the wonders of reinforced concrete and the naval equivalent of blast doors (e.g., NORAD and Cheyenne Mt.). Believe berths could be created that would be invulnerable… Read more »

FormerUSAF
FormerUSAF
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

The presumption, of course, is there would also be an ABM site

FormerUSAF
FormerUSAF
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

Actually, sort of begs the question of the feasibility of a similar scenario at HMNB Clyde. (No problem to spend 3% of GDP, w/out even breaking a sweat. 😅)

Gunbuster
Gunbuster
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

Gib is a warren of tunnels, caverns and infrastructure. 35 odd miles of roads and tunnels inside it, fuel farms, water tanks and other “stuff” some dating back till the 1800s. Most of the tunneling was WW2 era stuff dug by Canadian Hard Rock miners but there is more recent works under there as well. With the location of the Port to the rock it would be a none starter nowadays. There used to be a walk through tunnel from the dockyard to the beaches on the other side of the rock but that closed decades ago due to rockfalls… Read more »

Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

Chinese have such a location apparently. The costs would be ridiculous, Spain would have a fit, as would the EU, as would the Gibraltarians I suspect.

There is plenty of UG stuff at Gib already, most from WW2 or before, with some Cold War things confirmed and rumoured.

IanbUK
IanbUK
1 year ago

I was 2nd I/C for a period at the Lane, there’s lots that cannot be said about that place so I will talk about what I can at Gib. Former USAF “Has the MoD/RN ever given serious consideration to the development of protected berthings for SSNs/SSBNs at Gib?” The answer is hmm, yes and sort of. Not all of the caves there are fully open as some stores are located in a crag or two. Put it simply, we would get told if one of our own or a NATO SSN/SSBN was to come in so we could do our… Read more »

Daniele Mandelli
Daniele Mandelli
1 year ago
Reply to  IanbUK

The “Lane” Ian?
Faslane SW inner area?
I saw you’d mentioned you were FPG.