Military students learn valuable lessons
Military students gathered on Salisbury Plain recently to learn how a British Army division is deployed.
A staged combat logistic patrol
The annual ‘Land Combat Power’ demonstration showing the capabilities of a ‘Land formation’ took place over 3 days and was organised by troops from 3rd (United Kingdom) Division based in Bulford.
Senior military students from the Defence Academy, based in Shrivenham, took to the Plain, as well as officers attending the captains’ warfare course in Warminster.
The display included a ‘combined arms manoeuvre demonstration’ with Challenger 2 tanks and Warrior armoured vehicles simulating an attack on an enemy position and a ‘sustainment operations’ stand with staged combat logistic patrols.
There was also a fully-deployed divisional headquarters to showcase the range of capabilities a land commander could orchestrate in any future operations.
A Challenger 2 tank on Salisbury Plain for the British Army's annual 'Land Combat Power' demonstration [All pictures: Major Laurence Roche, Crown copyright]
The Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Zac Stenning, said:
It is important for us to understand about ‘Land Combat Power’ as we come back from Afghanistan and return to contingency, because we haven’t really touched a lot of this properly for the past 6 to 8 years.
So, reigniting the flame, understanding the complexity of moving by day and night with sophisticated kit and equipment, and working with a variety of people and different capabilities, is incredibly important.
Salisbury Plain Training Area is maintained by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), which delivers the training service, enabling defence training users to live, work, train and deploy at home and overseas.
Lieutenant Colonel Mark Hiskett, Principal Training Safety Officer, DIO Operations Training South West, said:
DIO’s priority is to support our Armed Forces as they prepare for operations. Salisbury Plain is the ideal training ground to hold demonstrations of this type and size, and we are proud to be able to offer the facilities that enable our military personnel to learn valuable combat lessons.
At over 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres), Salisbury Plain is the UK’s largest training area and offers first-class and diverse training facilities to enable the British Army to meet its training requirements to prepare for operations worldwide.