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Commandos set their sights on close-combat training
Royal Marines of 40 Commando honed their day and night-fighting skills with a week of intense training in mock towns in Kent. The Norton Manor-based commandos practised close quarters battle on special ranges at Lydd and Hythe, trying out an enhanced rifle sight to improve their already-impressive marksmanship.
Royal Marines of 40 Commando stand guard at the façade of a house on the ranges at Lydd and Hythe in Kent as Exercise Hawk – a week of close-combat training – draws to a close.
The commandos decamped from their base at Norton Manor in Somerset to the two training areas on the Channel.
The ranges at Lydd, about five miles west of Dungeness, have been used by troops for more than 150 years, while those at Hythe, a dozen miles to the east, are two centuries old and are dominated by a couple of Martello towers and Grand Redoubt, built to keep Napoleon at bay.
Some 200 years later, the ranges are in use almost daily – and have been adapted to meet the demands of today’s Armed Forces, with a mock modern-day housing estate, complete with roads, roundabouts and cars, built at both, while the Lydd ranges are strewn with wrecked old armoured vehicles.
40 Commando made full use of their week in Kent, from the annual combat marksmanship test to compound clearance and defending forward operating bases.
There was also the opportunity for the Royals to let loose with heavy weapons and each company carried out nighttime live firing.
And for the first time 40 tested the new ELCAN sight – there’s a small red cross for the aiming point – which is easier to use and better in the dark than the existing sights; troops still need to understand its capability, how to mount it on SA80 rifles and how to zero it – all of which was done in Kent.
For close quarters battle (also known as close combat or, in old parlance, hand-to-hand fighting), a separate sight is fitted on top of the ELCAN sight to allow the commandos to rapidly engage their targets.
As well as live firing, the Norton Manor men also used ‘simunition’ – simulated ammunition, which possesses the dynamics of the real thing, minus the lethality – to add an extra layer of realism to Exercise Hawk.
“40 Commando had plenty of time to practise close quarters skills and the simunition added a realistic dimension to the training,” explained Lt Dougal Loadman.
Royal Marines of 40 Commando and Army Commandos taking part in PROJECT HERMOD LIVEX.
PROJECT HERMOD was a capability demonstration to mark the Defence Integrated Review (IR).
Taking place on RFA Mounts Bay and at Bovington training area, it displayed Multi-Domain Integration (MDI) within Defence as part of a transformation programme.
Trained for rapid worldwide deployment, the troops of 40 Commando are highly skilled, adaptable, and capable of combating a wide range of threats.
The unit are at the forefront of innovation as commandos go back to their roots as raiders from the sea and embrace new technologies to help their specialised operations around the world.
Since its formation in 1942, 40 Commando has served in every major British conflict, playing a pivotal role in several notable campaigns and operations.
Photos: LPhot Phil Bloor
Credit: UK Ministry of Defence 2021
Lima Company 42 Commando Royal Marines - Exercise Black Alligator
Images show a dawn raid by Lima Company 42 Commando Royal Marines on to objective Ruby. The mission saw the commando’s clear enemy from buildings and the surrounding terrain. The attack was part of 42 Commando's week long final exercise of Black Alligator.
Photos: PO (Phot) Sean Clee MOD Crown copyright 2012
Lima Company 42 Commando Royal Marines - Exercise Black Alligator
Images captured show a dawn raid by Lima Company 42 Commando Royal Marines on to objective Ruby. The mission saw the commando’s clear enemy from buildings and the surrounding terrain. The attack was part of 42 Commando's week long final exercise of Black Alligator. 26th to 30th November 2012
Photos: PO (Phot) Sean Clee MOD Crown copyright 2012
On the 18th of November 2012, HMS NORTHUMBERLAND boarding teams, both the embarked 43 Commando Royal Marines (Green) and the ships company (Blue) team conducted training onboard to simulate Contact of Interest (COI) and hostage handling techniques. The training is in preperation for the ship heading to the Middle East on Operational tasking.
Image shows Royal Marine Boarding Team as they fast rope from the Merlin helicopter onto HMS NORTHUMBERLAND.
Image by LA(Phot)Maxine Davies CROWN COPYRIGHT
Commando level attack on to objective LEAD (Range 200)
Images captured show a Commando level attack on to objective LEAD (Range 200) in the 29 Palms training area of California. Over 500 Royal Marines from 42 Commando were involved in the dawn raid. The mission saw the Commandos clear enemy from buildings and surrounding terrain. The attack was the final phase of the six week long training exercise, Black Alligator – December 2012
Photographs by PO (phot) Sean Clee Crown Copyright 2012
French Marine Commandos taking part in the large scale American Amphibious warfare exercise Bold Alligator 2012
© ECPAD - Tous droits réservés 2010
All these excellent photos are from Ecpad : www.ecpad.fr/
A U.K. Royal Marine with 45 Commando participates a combined operation part of exercise Blue Raptor in Frasselli, France, Nov. 20, 2015. The Allied Maritime Basing Initiative is a proof-of-concept to provide the U.S. and NATO allies a year-round, maritime-based crisis response force by leveraging the amphibious capabilities residing in Europe. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Keonaona C. Paulo/Released)
Royal Marines of 40 Commando and Army Commandos taking part in PROJECT HERMOD LIVEX.
PROJECT HERMOD was a capability demonstration to mark the Defence Integrated Review (IR).
Taking place on RFA Mounts Bay and at Bovington training area, it displayed Multi-Domain Integration (MDI) within Defence as part of a transformation programme.
Trained for rapid worldwide deployment, the troops of 40 Commando are highly skilled, adaptable, and capable of combating a wide range of threats.
The unit are at the forefront of innovation as commandos go back to their roots as raiders from the sea and embrace new technologies to help their specialised operations around the world.
Since its formation in 1942, 40 Commando has served in every major British conflict, playing a pivotal role in several notable campaigns and operations.
Photos: LPhot Phil Bloor
Credit: UK Ministry of Defence 2021
Royal Marines from 40 Commando practice urban warfare techniques on July 14, 2010, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. HMS Ark Royal, the nation's strike carrier, is leading an international task group during exercise Auriga 2010 a joint US-British amphibious exercise in Onslow Bay, off the coast of North Carolina. Exercise AURIGA is part of a series of training exercises that will build on the UK's ability to conduct small scale focused intervention operations anywhere in the world, delivering amphibious forces supported by air power from the Joint Harrier force.
42 Commando launch dawn raid in Oman as part of exercise
Royal Marines have launched a dawn raid on a mock village in Oman as part of an exercise with the Omani Armed Forces.
42 Command Royal Marines from Bickleigh, near Plymouth, are on a four-month deployment in the Gulf on an annual operation called Cougar 13.
Images by LA(Phot) Jason Ballard.
A U.K. Royal Marine with 45 Commando participates in a combined operation part of exercise Blue Raptor, in Frasselli, France, Nov. 20, 2015. The Allied Maritime Basing Initiative is a proof-of-concept to provide the U.S. and NATO allies a year-round, maritime-based crisis response force by leveraging the amphibious capabilities residing in Europe. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Keonaona C. Paulo/Released)
U.S. Marines with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa and U.K. Royal Marines with 45 Commando clear rooms during a combined operation part of exercise Blue Raptor in Frasselli, France, Nov. 20, 2015. The Allied Maritime Basing Initiative is a proof-of-concept to provide the U.S. and NATO allies a year-round, maritime-based crisis response force by leveraging the amphibious capabilities residing in Europe. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Keonaona C. Paulo/Released)
TAUNTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 16: Royal Marines from 40 Commando are presented with their campaign medals following a six-month deployment in Sangin, Afghanistan at Norton Camp Barracks in the presence of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on November 16, 2010 in Taunton, England. During their deployment to Afghanistan, 14 marines were killed and 11 were seriously injured. About 600 marines from the base at Norton Fitzwarren in Somerset had been serving since April 2010 in the Sangin area of Helmand Province before it was taken over by US forces in September.
Lima Company, 42 Commando RM Commence Californian Training
Within hours of arriving, elements of the unit have commenced working on the ranges in this vast training facility with its 932 square miles of desert terrain in which to operate. Lima Company were the first group from the Unit to get onto the ranges and spent several days building up to a live-firing serial which included throwing grena
des into compounds known as ‘killing’ houses.
Major Oli Coryton RM, Officer Commanding Lima Company, is pleased with how the training has gone so far. “This is the culmination of three days of bespoke modern urban combat training and close quarter battle drills. We’ve spent two days doing ‘dry’ firing manoeuvres (without ammunition) and then today has been spent live firing in bespoke built ‘killing’ houses.”
CROWN COPYRIGHT
139 Troop Kings Squad Pass-out Parade. The ceremony took place on the Parade ground at Commando Training Centre, Lympstone on Friday the 21st September 2012. The presenting officer for the occasion Lieutenant Colonel N Sutherland MBE Royal Marines Commanding Officer 42 Commando.
Crown Copyright 2012
Royal Marines from 40 Commando Royal Marines participate in an assault on Range 210 as part of Exercise Black Alligator 13 aboard the Combat Center Oct. 20, 2013.
Royal Marines from 40 Commando Royal Marines culminated weeks of training and preparation aboard the Combat Center with an assault on Range 210 as part of Exercise Black Alligator 13, Oct. 20, 2013.
They are in the USA to hone their warfighting skills alongside their US colleagues at the sprawling United States Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centre, which has nearly 1,000 sq miles of ideal training ground.
(Official Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Paul S. Martinez/Released)
Royal Marines from Reconnaissance Troop 42 Commando conducting Modern Urban Combat (MUC) drills. The training was part of Exercise Black Alligator and was conducted in Area Delta of the Mount Facility at 29 Palms in California, USA.
Crown Copyright 2012
U.S. Marines with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa and U.K. Royal Marines with 45 Commando clear rooms during a combined operation part of exercise Blue Raptor in Frasselli, France, Nov. 20, 2015. The Allied Maritime Basing Initiative is a proof-of-concept to provide the U.S. and NATO allies a year-round, maritime-based crisis response force by leveraging the amphibious capabilities residing in Europe. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Keonaona C. Paulo/Released)
My custom Commando Atin equiped with a thelittlearmsshop DC-17m blaster.
Made him a while back, but he is still one of my favorites, and one of the hardest I have ever made.
Tell me what you think.
Royal Marines from Reconnaissance Troop 42 Commando conducting Modern Urban Combat (MUC) drills. The training was part of Exercise Black Alligator and was conducted in Area Delta of the Mount Facility at 29 Palms in California, USA.
Crown Copyright 2012
U.S. Marines with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa and U.K. Royal Marines with 45 Commando clear rooms during a combined operation part of exercise Blue Raptor in Frasselli, France, Nov. 20, 2015. The Allied Maritime Basing Initiative is a proof-of-concept to provide the U.S. and NATO allies a year-round, maritime-based crisis response force by leveraging the amphibious capabilities residing in Europe. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Keonaona C. Paulo/Released)
139 Troop Kings Squad Pass-out Parade. The ceremony took place on the Parade ground at Commando Training Centre, Lympstone on Friday the 21st September 2012. The presenting officer for the occasion Lieutenant Colonel N Sutherland MBE Royal Marines Commanding Officer 42 Commando.
Crown Copyright 2012
Miniature warriors from Families across 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, assembled to face Soldiers of the 41st Engineer Battalion during the Commando brigade's second "Nerf Wars" match held inside a makeshift battlefield configured throughout the Magrath Sports Complex basketball court, April 10, 2019, at Fort Drum, New York. Foam darts littered the gym floor during the "just for fun" event as opposing forces fueled by popcorn and cotton candy engaged in a play firefight.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Paige Behringer)
42 Commando launch dawn raid in Oman as part of exercise
Royal Marines have launched a dawn raid on a mock village in Oman as part of an exercise with the Omani Armed Forces.
42 Command Royal Marines from Bickleigh, near Plymouth, are on a four-month deployment in the Gulf on an annual operation called Cougar 13.
Images by LA(Phot) Jason Ballard.
A U.S. Marine with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa and U.K. Royal Marines with 45 Commando participate in a combined operation part of exercise Blue Raptor in Frasselli, France, Nov. 20, 2015. The Allied Maritime Basing Initiative is a proof-of-concept to provide the U.S. and NATO allies a year-round, maritime-based crisis response force by leveraging the amphibious capabilities residing in Europe. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Keonaona C. Paulo/Released)
French commando soldiers of French National Marine frigate "le Ventose", arrive near a boat with their TRACTO craft during a presentation on February 12, 2012 off Fort-de-France on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. The Ventose is a specialist in "Go Fast" hunting that patrols the zone as part of a Caribbean anti-drugs agreement co-signed by France.
Commandos set their sights on close-combat training
Royal Marines of 40 Commando honed their day and night-fighting skills with a week of intense training in mock towns in Kent. The Norton Manor-based commandos practised close quarters battle on special ranges at Lydd and Hythe, trying out an enhanced rifle sight to improve their already-impressive marksmanship.
Royal Marines of 40 Commando stand guard at the façade of a house on the ranges at Lydd and Hythe in Kent as Exercise Hawk – a week of close-combat training – draws to a close.
The commandos decamped from their base at Norton Manor in Somerset to the two training areas on the Channel.
The ranges at Lydd, about five miles west of Dungeness, have been used by troops for more than 150 years, while those at Hythe, a dozen miles to the east, are two centuries old and are dominated by a couple of Martello towers and Grand Redoubt, built to keep Napoleon at bay.
Some 200 years later, the ranges are in use almost daily – and have been adapted to meet the demands of today’s Armed Forces, with a mock modern-day housing estate, complete with roads, roundabouts and cars, built at both, while the Lydd ranges are strewn with wrecked old armoured vehicles.
40 Commando made full use of their week in Kent, from the annual combat marksmanship test to compound clearance and defending forward operating bases.
There was also the opportunity for the Royals to let loose with heavy weapons and each company carried out nighttime live firing.
And for the first time 40 tested the new ELCAN sight – there’s a small red cross for the aiming point – which is easier to use and better in the dark than the existing sights; troops still need to understand its capability, how to mount it on SA80 rifles and how to zero it – all of which was done in Kent.
For close quarters battle (also known as close combat or, in old parlance, hand-to-hand fighting), a separate sight is fitted on top of the ELCAN sight to allow the commandos to rapidly engage their targets.
As well as live firing, the Norton Manor men also used ‘simunition’ – simulated ammunition, which possesses the dynamics of the real thing, minus the lethality – to add an extra layer of realism to Exercise Hawk.
“40 Commando had plenty of time to practise close quarters skills and the simunition added a realistic dimension to the training,” explained Lt Dougal Loadman.
Mike Company, 42 Commando RM Commence Californian Training
Arriving in Camp Wilson at 0230hrs, 42 Commando's first day consisted of a full morning of briefs, including lectures on dangerous fauna in the area such as the Sidewinder rattlesnake, various spiders and how to protect endangered species such as the rare Mojave Desert tortoise.
With daytime temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, kee
ping cool and hydrated is of the utmost importance. A typical 'section attack' can see a Marine run and crawl through desert for 15 minutes with 40lbs (18kg) of equipment. The combination of extreme physical activity and extreme heat takes its toll. Unlike the Mojave Desert tortoise, which can go without a drink for months by circulating recycled water around its body, the Marines of 42 Commando are having to drink several litres of water a day.
CROWN COPYRIGHT
U.S. Marines with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa and U.K. Royal Marines with 45 Commando clear rooms during a combined operation part of exercise Blue Raptor in Frasselli, France, Nov. 20, 2015. The Allied Maritime Basing Initiative is a proof-of-concept to provide the U.S. and NATO allies a year-round, maritime-based crisis response force by leveraging the amphibious capabilities residing in Europe. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Keonaona C. Paulo/Released)
Miniature warriors from Families across 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, assembled to face Soldiers of the 41st Engineer Battalion during the Commando brigade's second "Nerf Wars" match held inside a makeshift battlefield configured throughout the Magrath Sports Complex basketball court, April 10, 2019, at Fort Drum, New York. Foam darts littered the gym floor during the "just for fun" event as opposing forces fueled by popcorn and cotton candy engaged in a play firefight.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Paige Behringer)
The “Pando Commando” glows in night vision from a festive jack-o’-lantern display, October 27, 2019, at Fort Drum, New York. The skiing panda, or “Pando Commando,” has recently gained popularity across the “Commando” brigade, or 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI). The informal insignia originates from the Pando Valley near Camp Hale, Colorado, where the 10th Light Division (Alpine) was activated in 1943. When the unit was re-designated as the 10th Mountain Division (LI) in 1944, the Pando Commando remained as an unofficial logo and a piece of the division’s history. (U.S. Army photo illustration by Staff Sgt. Paige Behringer)
TAUNTON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 16: Royal Marines from 40 Commando are presented with their campaign medals following a six-month deployment in Sangin, Afghanistan at Norton Camp Barracks in the presence of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on November 16, 2010 in Taunton, England. During their deployment to Afghanistan, 14 marines were killed and 11 were seriously injured. About 600 marines from the base at Norton Fitzwarren in Somerset had been serving since April 2010 in the Sangin area of Helmand Province before it was taken over by US forces in September.
In 2003 we saw another great Regimental Association gathering, this time in Scotland, when we unveiled a statue of David Stirling at a site near Dunblane. He would have disapproved of the idea of a statue to him, but he would have approved wholeheartedly of the great gathering and the party we had after the statue was unveiled. As if to signify his views the heavens opened just as we finished the ceremony and most of those present received a good soaking. This was soon forgotten in the enjoyment of the occasion afterwards and the celebrations went on to the early hours of the following morning.
Original caption: Pakistani commandos of the Special Services Group (SSG) march during the country's National Day military parade in Islamabad, 23 March 2001. Pakistan observed its 61th national day today in which President Rafiq Tarrar called for peace in divided Kashmir. Tarrar said
French commando soldiers of French National Marine frigate "le Ventose", drive an ETRACTO craft during a presentation on February 12, 2012 off Fort-de-France on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. The Ventose is a specialist in "Go Fast" hunting that patrols the zone as part of a Caribbean anti-drugs agreement co-signed by France.
Miniature warriors from Families across 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, assembled to face Soldiers of the 41st Engineer Battalion during the Commando brigade's second "Nerf Wars" match held inside a makeshift battlefield configured throughout the Magrath Sports Complex basketball court, April 10, 2019, at Fort Drum, New York. Foam darts littered the gym floor during the "just for fun" event as opposing forces fueled by popcorn and cotton candy engaged in a play firefight.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Paige Behringer)