Royal Marines have taken part in, and reportedly won, an intensive five-day battle in California in one of the largest military training areas in the world.

According to the Ministry of Defence, Royal Marines Commandos spent the last two months in the Mojave Desert preparing for deployments next year as part of the newly-formed Littoral Response Group (South), which is one of two new Royal Navy task groups centred on commando forces set up to respond to world events.

“Experts from across 3 Commando Brigade came together to form the LRG – with Taunton-based 40 Commando at its heart – at the vast US Marine Corps training facility at Twentynine Palms in California. The conclusion of the exercises, known as Green Dagger, was five days of gruelling warfighting which saw allied forces – from the US, Canada, United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and UK – join forces to take on a highly-equipped US Marine Corps adversary.” 

According to the Ministry of Defence, the exercise focused around three urban sprawls which were defended by allied forces, the largest of which consisting of 1,200 buildings purpose built for militaries to test themselves among.

The LRG won decisive battles early on and gained ground from their enemy, but, with the US Marines pushing into allied territory, Royal Marines and their allies carried out raids behind enemy lines to stop further counterattacks.

“Our success has proved the new commando force concept is more lethal and sophisticated than ever before and I am immensely proud of every member of the LRG and their vital contributions,” said Lieutenant Colonel Andy Dow, Commanding Officer of 40 Commando, was quoted as saying.

“Operating alongside our partners from the USA, Netherlands, Canada and the UAE gives us a fantastic opportunity to test, integrate and continue to push our capabilities in new and innovative directions. Throughout this deployment our focus has been on integrating game-changing capabilities from across the commando force to deliver disproportional effect in the face of a free-thinking peer adversary.”

The exercise concluded with a last-minute ‘enemy’ assault which was repelled, leaving allied forces in control of over two thirds of the entire ‘battlefield’.

The Ministry of Defence add that ‘LRG South’ is expected to be functional next year with the addition of amphibious ships and aircraft.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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57 COMMENTS

      • Indeed they are. We are a bit behind the times in some respects here in the ‘wilds’ of Africa but on the subject of the Royal Marines I stumbled across some RM massed musicians performing music in the Albert Hall from Two Steps from Hell. I am sure many of you are familiar with this but if you have not heard please Google especially Dragon Wing and Evergreen for an absolutely stunning performance visually and musically with up to a 99% approval score!!
        On subject, great performance against the Yanks but I hope we haven’t offended our special relationship allies by boasting that ours are bigger than theirs!

        • I was at the Mountbatten Festival of Music in 2020 & they played Two Steps from Hell pieces, they also played some in the 2021 concert. You can find the 2020 & 2021 concerts (and other years) on YouTube.

          • Wow John-jealous!! I have never been to the Albert Hall. The RM musicians must rank up there with the best in the world in every respect. I wonder if the musicians are recruited separately or do they also serve on the front line when needed?

        • Not a problem with this ‘old school’ US Marine. One weekend in the winter of 1964, being stationed at Marine Barracks, Boston, I remember pulling maneuvers with USMC Reservists in some ass-deep-snow-covered National Forest in Massachusetts.

          And, of course, in the news media the following week, the Reservists had ‘shown themselves to be a force to be reckoned with’. In actuality…had I had my ‘druthers’ of being with the Reservists or carrying around a bucket of menge for a month…I’d rather have sat that one OUT!!!

          All MEN were created EQUAL…then SOME joined the Marine Corps…

  3. 12 Light Guns with 29RA.
    A troop of HVM Starstreak LMM in 30 Cdo.
    1 squadron of Wildcat ( 847 ) it shares with the AAC in a tiny pool of 34 helicopters. So 4 to 6 cabs. Minimal armament.
    Armoured Support Group with Viking ATVs, minimal armament.
    25 Merlin, maybe 10 available, in 845 and 846.
    Plus Javelin, 81mm, .50s, GPMG, and Snipers in 40 and 45 Cdos Stand Off Companies.
    Sigint Troop in Y Squadron, 30 Cdo.
    Jackals with GMG,GPMG,.50s in the BRS.
    Similar armament on ORCs of 539 Sqn and 47 Cdo. ( 1 AGRM )

    No new precision fires.
    No new loitering munitions. ( maybe switchblade but unannounced and short ranged )
    No UAV, armed or otherwise, seen some hand held ones being trialled.
    No longer ranged artillery apart from NGS.
    No direct fire cannon of any calibre.
    No new landing craft, retained LCVP, LCU only.
    Hovercraft discarded.

    No doubt some if our most superb light infantry and with the SBS arguably the betters of the SAS but where else is the deadly at the moment?

    We know the issues with shipping.

    The USMC would walk all over us, this is nice PR but let’s keep reality in sight.

    The FCC has a lot of issues that need sorting.

    • Absolutely Daniele, well said. Let’s hope we see our new out of area strategy actually turn into the required equipment you detail above. No good reason for it not to.

      formations like this are now at the absolute tip of the UK spear.

    • Couldn’t agree more Daniele, the USMC must have been operating under certain ROE, or playing a very specific role for this result to have come about. That is no criticism of the RM, just an objective evaluation of what the USMC normally brings in terms of across-the-board capability.
      Must have been great fun for all involved though!

      • Training exercises are meant to challenge both sides. Yes, in order for that to happen, the usmc had both hands one of its legs tied behind its back.

        No insult intended, as it shows the quality of the troops when placed on equal footing.

      • Did I say that?
        “No doubt some of our most superb light infantry “

        I was talking of the enablers and supporting firepower against an adversary who has those in abundance against whom the RM “won”
        I think Joe got my gist.
        Careful with those rolly eyes.
        

        • And to add, from the article-

          ““Our success has proved the new commando force concept is more lethal and sophisticated than ever before”

          Where is the lethal in the enablers and supports I listed?

          I actually support the concept, but there needs to be something purchased to realise it beyond a new rifle, uniform, some hand held drones and “new” philosophy.

          Which we are not seeing yet.

          We can all read that this exercise was of light dispersed forces vs similar, but then we get the spin from MoD justifying what is happening to the Corps in creating this FCF, to which I understand many in the corps were not happy with.

          Possibly including its ex CGRM….

    • This is a positive story! £200 mill assigned to FCF, it seems to be having an effect, especially the new tactics. Its not sensible to consider the RM going up against the USMC en masse, now or at any time in the past – very different org. But it is sensible to put FCF up against the new USMC Marine Raider Bns – as they are the same type of unit, with similar mission.

      • James, do you know what has been bought with that £200 million or what is in the pipeline?

        I’m aware of the RM new raiding concept with smaller teams. To be fair haven’t they had that capability for years anyway while having a light infantry brigade that could actually deploy, with enablers, albeit limited compared to the likes of 16AA.

        Were those USMC Raider Bns the opposing force in this exercise do you know?

        • Daniele, I don’t I’m afraid. The £200M was allocated before the DCP, and another £40M was included in the DCP – so its £240M in total. Interestingly the Army allocated £140M for development of the Rangers. The most visible stuff are C4 personal weapons and new camo uniforms.

          I imagine some is going on these ultralightweight vehicles we have seen them testing, maybe Puma drones? – there are PODS for FCF too (precision fires and a C3 POD). As you point out probably some for Switchblade? I expect a fair amount has been spent on development of new tactics and training regimens.

          Precision Fires POD will be interesting – Switchblade 600 maybe, or Brimstone? Maybe some sort of munition agnostic mini-VLS?

          • Thanks James, that outline on kit was pretty much my limit of knowledge too. I think the vehicles are DAGOR Polaris.

            I wasn’t aware of the funding total.

            The acquisitions that always seem to be missing are more helicopters, boats, ships, to actually enable these light groups to do the FCF raiding thing.

            The things that cost real money. The enablers.

            That was the point of my original “semi rant” list above to which Ron rolled his eyes at.

          • Yes agreed. I think vertical lift wise they have already the 25 HC4s, which are probably more than enough for two LRGs, and can call on the Chinook fleet and a regiment of dedicated AH-64s. Both of these fleets are being renewed. Rangers are another matter, they need NMH and plenty of them.

            For me the missing piece is AAR for the helicopters to support long-range insertion from over the horizon vessels. HC4 and the newer CH-47s all have provision for probes, I guess the AAR drones planned under Vixen would be useful, but IMHO 6-8 more A400 with AAR and other SOF mods (a targeting pod and ability to drop some swarming drones out the back) are needed for FCF and the Army’s SOF Brigades.

            Also they probably need something like Shadow that can operate from a ship – I will need to think to work that out!! Maybe a MALE drone in the Watchkeeper class that can operate from a ship – preferably armed.

            Datalink, missiles and radar on Wildcat would help and, as you say, some more of them. I think ORC is better than CB-90 for LRG(S) – the enclosed cabin will be a problem in the tropics, but might be useful for LRG(N). Viking has been upgraded.

            I think SHORAD needs replacement and Light Gun – but these will wait on the Army’s planned programmes I guess? Presumably precision fires is part of the solution to the latter.

            MADFOX maybe for stealthy support? – some semisubmersibles like that new British thing as DSEI look useful for insertion?

          • Yes, I forget it’s name. Nigel C also linked to another Brit example, though I thought that was more SBS than FCF myself.

          • Well they need to creep in St Nazaire style as FCF, so I guess its good for them too now. They are Commandos once again, so I guess we must stop thinking about them as an amphbious light infantry brigade.

    • It seems 9 usmc marsoc units were also on the side of the royal marines as well. I’m sure it was a valuable exercise for all involved but we shouldn’t read too much into it without the details.

    • Spot on assessment mate, while higher quality individuals and small team skills, the bigger picture is pretty dire and rather limited! More investment required with a little more ballsy calls on the newer kit that’s available. As for the shakies being better than H, not better mate but a little less arrogant and realistic 🍻 cheers mate!

    • This has always been the Achilles heel of the Corps. There are no better expeditionary forces in the world. Only limited by resource and in the past, the reluctance of the RN to fund the RM properly as an equal part of the Navy. This is hopefully changing now. I was fortunate to spend 26 years in the Corps, and the changes have been astounding in that time. Some good, some bad and some very damaging, but, with a keen interest in what’s going on and oppos that are doing some of the heavy lifting in enabling FCF to be realised, it is very exciting, but as always tinged with the proverbial chin massaging!
      if we get this right, then this will send a very powerful message, if we get this wrong ie penny pinch, then it would be an expensive, limited, and ultimately dangerous endeavour. Please🙏 Fund this properly.
      Bootnecks love danger, and they’re up for anything, but but one would find scuba diving a lot more achievable with a tank of air. Holding one’s breath and hoping for the best is not the best tactic. And it felt like that in the past for me and may of my colleagues on many jobs that we did.
      mine thing to come out of 29 Palms, (I’ve been there, it’s some training area) is that the reporting is very ‘Un Royal Marine’ like. It’s normally a lot more subtle and hides a lot of what actually happened. I can concur that 40 did indeed hand out a comprehensive beating. As you quite rightly pointed out tho, in the grand scheme of things, and 9 times out of 10, mass, when backed up with even more mass wins out. The USMC most definitely has mass. Our strengths are different to theirs so as long as we continue to adapt, we ll be relevant and very much in The thoughts (and nightmares of our competitors)
      love reading your posts on these forums Danielle👍 Especially glad you can tell the difference between The RM Band and Commandos. Believe it or not, many, many RM’s over the years have been bemoaning the fact that the Corps moved so far away from its roots, and became in essence another ‘Regiment of the line’ taking its place on Herricks etc. as important as this was for the development of TTPs and battle experience etc, it was not our role. First in yes, staying there for 20 years, no. It’s great to be able to say Commando again and mean it. I just hope that there is proper substance behind the claim🤞

      • Hi Richard. A very interesting post.
        Glad you enjoy my posts, but remember I’m just very well read! It’s you guys I look up to.

        Respect.

        You should post more here, your experience and input would be invaluable.

        • Hi Daniele,
          Thank you, I would love to do that👍 I can only speak from my experience which is clearly as limited as anything else, but may add a bit of ‘hands on’ experience in certain cases👍 being unplugged so to speak gives one a very different perspective on things. But I still maintain a firm enough grasp of what’s occurring with trustworthy oppos at the coal face to have an up to date and realistic view of what’s going on which certainly helps.
          I love reading some of the comments tho, and some are bang on the money, too close for comfort 😂
          It just appears to me, as a recently retired bloke with a keen interest in what I used to do, that this is ‘the’ time for change, and knowing certain personalities involved, there’s a good chance with a fair wind, it’ll be some asset. 👍

  4. Good show, a legacy of indefatigability carries on. Hats off to the Americans as well for the access to such training facilities

  5. Exercises are not about “winning” or “losing” They are about finding out what happens “if”: finding out weaknesses and strengths: testing technology.

  6. Don’t really see the RM and USMC as peer adversaries; the RM Commandos are more akin to Navy Seals/US Special Forces than a regular fighting force which is what the USMC is. And if I’m not mistaken the USMC has a larger headcount than whole of the British Army. Kind of like comparing Apples and Oranges.

    • From what I gather the USMC raiders were with the UK commandos. The OPFOR were the marines that do that all the time. It is a sprawling facility. And yes, the active duty USMC is larger than the entire UK military. That is not counting the over 100,000 Marine reserve.

  7. Great Stuff Lads!! The Best Fighting Unit in the World!!🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧⚓🇬🇧⚓

  8. It seems like a positive result (with the caveats outlined in other comments) but the corporate language is really not suitable for public focused communication. I have no problem with peer to peer comms featuring jargon if it gets the job done, but the military does have to think about it’s audience before issuing its messaging.

  9. I find this report encouraging. The more willing you are to do a hard exercise in which you lose and learn from that result (rather than running a pre-scripted game that makes you look good but does not actually test you) the more likely you are to win in actual combat. Or, as the old Romans knew, the more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war.

  10. As a US Marine, let me clarify something. 40 CDO fell under the command of the 7th Marine Regiment, and fought alongside 2d BN 5th Marines, 3d BN 11th Marines (arty), 1st ANGLICO, MARSOC, and the UAE presidential guard.

    All these units fell under the CO of 7th Marines. 40 CDO did phenomenal work, but they were certainly not alone or fighting on their own. They even used 7th Marines vehicles (if you look on some of the pictures a red “7th Reg” license plate is visible).

    Saying the Marines asked for a reset isn’t anything unusual. That falls under the EXCON (Exercise Control) who are by default, Marines who do this full time (known as “Coyotes” in Twentynine Palms). Once a side reaches a point where EXCON determines there is no further training value, they reset and let them go at each other again, similar to a sparring match in MMA.

    • Great post Thomas. I hope you don’t mind but copied it to a couple of UKAF pages to clarify as there is a little too much jingoistic BS from our guys. Devil’s in the detail!

      • Not a problem. A better comparison for RMs would be the 75th Ranger Reg. TBH, the only thing the RMs and USMC share is they operate from the sea, otherwise tactics and operating concept (by necisity and design) are completely different.

        I worked with the RMs a little bit in Quantico and Iraq, great dudes (albeit a little different seeing guys play “naked bar” in DC).

    • Absolutely mate👍 This was a ‘win-win’ situation, and a learning curve for ‘All’ involved. This kind of thing works because of trust between units that’s been built up over a long time. Lessons become TTPs and that is what all involved come away with. Valuable knowledge and tasking. I am sure this will inadvertently build up a healthy appetite to not let anything that went badly, happen again, and make the things that went well/are sustainable/achievable go even better/lighter/more lethal and economical for the future. in these interoperability exercises, ‘everyone’ learns ‘something’, and that’s how training should be! I bet next time it’s more challenging👍

  11. This story has been completely blown out of proportions by British media. Talk about the biggest piece of misinformation/disinformation in a while to have gone viral.

    40 Commando was a part of the AdFor (adversary force). The AdFor was made up of all the visiting militaries (UK, UAE etc) PLUS 2nd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment (USMC) PLUS USMC Marine Recon units from Camp Pendleton. In addition to all these forces, the AdFor is also given every single tool possible, and advanced time to get to know the terrain. Those fighter jets that the Royal Marines called upon to repel the enemy counter attack? Those were F-18s from MCAS Miramar in California, USMC planes. The assaulting force was 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment from Hawaii. 1/3 is given less support to work with by design. The exercise is designed to crush the assaulting force and stress leaders at all levels of the advancing force.

    The narrative that British Royal Marines forced US Marines to “surrender” is such a lie and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines should issue an apology for fanning the flames on such a lie. This kind of immaturity is what wears down alliances. Let’s be honest, the USMC has so much capability that they would destroy the RMs if they really wanted to. At 180k Marines plus their own aviation, artillery, logistics, cyber etc, RMs aren’t a match, no matter how proficient the training.

    Let’s say in a dream world though this had been an even fight of 100 v 100. Standard US Marine infantry is no match for RMs. USMC infantry is more like British Army regulars. USMC Raiders vs the Commandos would be a more fair fight.

    • I’d wager the RMs are more akin to an amphibious 75th Ranger Regiment. They are an extremely capable unit, but they have a fairly narrow mission set/core tasks compared the USMC.

      I’m not worried about image, we are not thin-skinned enough to worry about it too much and we have worked closely with the brits for too long to really give a s**t about the media.

    • I was with you until you waxed lyrical about the size of the USMC and their ability to ‘sdestroy the RMs is they really wanted to” – we know that. That was not the point of the article – to compare strengths. It was about the quality of the Royal Marines on the exercise.

      • I can tell you didn’t read until the end where I said a more accurate force on force portrayal would have been USMC Raiders vs the Commandos. THAT would be a more accurate test of quality.

  12. Yet the Government wants to half the size of the RM…. and replace it with some Rangers batalions dreamt up by MOD Desk generals who wish they were American….. perhaps we should give more cash to a fighting force that always proves its worth and dispense of all these light infantry units which would get minced on a real battlefield and only exist because getting rid of the Black Watch would be a crime against humanity…..

  13. Know what all that matters is that they come home safe and sound great that they all can work together proud to be scottish great to be British hat off to all involved and for what each and everyone of yous put on the line to keep us safe thank you

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