Royal Marines from 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group have taken part in a joint training exercise with emergency services at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, practising responses to a simulated firearms incident.
The exercise, say the Royal Navy, brought together Royal Marines, Police Scotland counter-terrorism officers, ambulance crews, fire and rescue personnel and RAF Chinook helicopters in a scenario designed to improve coordination between military and civilian responders during major incidents.
A total of 18 marines from the Faslane-based unit were inserted into the stadium by Chinook helicopters from RAF 28 Squadron before responding to the simulated threat alongside emergency service teams. 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group maintains a constant operational role protecting the UK’s strategic nuclear deterrent and the Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines based at HM Naval Base Clyde.
The unit specialises in close-quarters combat and operations in confined environments, capabilities that can also support domestic response operations alongside armed police units and other emergency agencies. During the exercise, the marines worked alongside Police Scotland’s counter-terrorism specialists to respond to a series of threats before being extracted by helicopter.
Captain Joseph Martin RM, a training officer at 43 Commando, said in the release that the exercise provided valuable opportunities to work closely with civilian partners. “This has been a really interesting exercise working across colleagues in the emergency services,” he said.
“The teams have had the opportunity to work in unique places they wouldn’t normally get to operate in and learn from specialists across different fields.”
He added that similar exercises are likely to continue in the future. “This is definitely an exercise we’ll be looking to run more regularly to build capability and integrate more closely with partners.”
Additional training activity during the week also took place at Tulliallan Police College in Stirling, where further joint exercises were conducted. The training formed part of a wider exercise known as Kukri Dawn, organised by the British Army’s 51 Brigade, which prepares RAF Chinook crews for operational deployments through complex and realistic training scenarios.
