Royal Marines Reservists have completed two weeks of demanding exercises in Dorset and Wales to refine their combat readiness and align their skills with regular forces, according to the Royal Navy.
The training, known as Exercise Campbell Hardy, brought together reservists from across the country for advanced drills using Viking armoured vehicles and updated commando tactics.
Organised by Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) Merseyside, the exercise tested participants in both rural and urban environments, focusing on protected mobility, leadership, and realistic combat scenarios.
Warrant Officer 2 James Lynskey, chief training instructor at RMR Merseyside, said the event “gave Royal Marine Reservists a great experience in using protected mobility and practising commando force tactics with the added realism of TES.” He added that the exercise “helped close a residual gap that exists between regulars and reservists after they have completed commando training” and “pushed them to their limits in a challenging yet operationally realistic environment.”
Now in its fifth year, Exercise Campbell Hardy, named after a Second World War commando leader and former Commandant General Royal Marines, aimed to develop command and leadership skills under pressure while integrating new tactics and equipment being introduced across the Corps.
Throughout the exercise, the reservists practised reconnaissance patrols, established observation posts, and conducted close-quarter battle drills. The final test required them to clear a mock village, combining lessons from both phases of training.
Nice to see Reservists in action. I know the Regulars are sometimes a little hard on the part timers but many of these Troopies are ex-Regulars and others have civvie skills that are useful to the British Army. In SA I was with the old Natal Parks board as an Honourary Officer which was the body that looked after the Provinces Game Reserves headed up by Ian Player . The NPB was a quasi-Police/Military organisation that typified Ranger Units in much of the former British Empire in Africa. They wore Khaki and observed all the normal parade ground rituals plus were obviously armed. Main tasks included anti-Poaching ops, policing in support of the Ordinance and undercover work. Our Unit had serving and retired Police and Military, specialists in various fields plus a number of retired or former Game Rangers from SA and Zim. We backed up the full timers across the board.
The problems with the reserves are not to do with the skills of individual soldiers (although that is very variable from individual to individual) but with their equipment, organisation, and lack of mobilisation criteria or plans. As things stand, the only way we use reserves is either to fill gaps in Regular units as individual replacements (or in the case of RWY crew replacements) or at most as sub units for something like Op Tosca. I don’t even know the last time the AR/TA did anything at unit level.
I think 6 and 7 Rifles ran TOSCA a few years ago (as in BGHQ as well as the deployed sub unit.)