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    More than 1,000 Royal Marines and Royal Marines Reservists are feeling the desert heat once again as they take part in an annual exercise with their US counterparts and Korps Mariniers of the Netherlands.


    Royal Marines take bite out of Black Alligator

    21/09/2016
    More than 1,000 Royal Marines and Royal Marines Reservists are feeling the desert heat once again as they take part in an annual exercise with their US counterparts.

    For seven weeks the marines of Taunton-based 40 Commando are honing their war fighting skills in the sweltering temperatures of California’s Mojave Desert.

    Exercise Black Alligator is played out on the US Marine Corps’ huge all-terrain exercise area near the town of Twenty-nine Palms, California – a space eight times larger than Salisbury Plain to allow unparalleled use of firepower in training.

    The full range of the Royal Marines’ armoury – Viking and Jackal armoured vehicles, 105mm field guns, mortars, heavy machine-guns, Javelin anti-tank missiles and combat engineers – are also being put through their paces.

    We are not training for warfare in the desert, we are training for warfare in a challenging environment and this place is pretty challenging.
    Lt Col Andy Watkins
    Alongside US marines, the Commandos will take part in live firing, perfect their urban combat drill and conduct a battlegroup-sized live-fire Commando raid.

    Exercise Black Alligator 16 forms part of the multi-environment training package that the Commando Group takes part in to ensure they remain at high readiness.

    Next year will see the men of 40 Cdo take over the nation’s high-readiness Lead Commando Group – a contingency force able to deploy anywhere in the world at very short notice.

    Commanding Officer of 40 Cdo Lt Col Andy Watkins said: “We are not training for warfare in the desert, we are training for warfare in a challenging environment and this place is pretty challenging.

    “Black Alligator is an opportunity for us to deploy abroad which is essential for the Lead Commando Group to practice its expeditionary warfare capability.”

    The British elite marines have also been joined by the US Marines Corps’ own troops who will bring their own artillery, engineers and battle tanks to create a large allied force.

    Also taking part in Black Alligator is a selection of Royal Marines Reservists from units across the UK. The majority of Reservists have careers outside of the Corps and give up their time to support UK amphibious forces.

    Mne Tim Williams, from RMR Bristol, who runs a small building company in Cardiff in his civilian life, said: “Out here the training is different, we are using a lot more assets and weapons – tanks, mortars – than we usually get exposure to.


    “The main challenge of this environment is the heat. It’s not my first time in the desert but it’s the first time with a rifle, trying to keep that clear of dust.”

    Exercise Black Alligator will culminate in a Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFEX), consisting of a full-on assault of Combat Town – a two-acre site, complete with an IED alley and other realistic warfare scenarios.

  • #2
    I really enjoyed Black Alligator 2014... apart from the food, which was two months of crippling bowel pain for all involved.

    Royal Marine Reserve is pretty good at getting their blokes overseas for great exercises. Some were with us on the Cold Weather Warfare and Survival course... not something I'd do in my spare time, tbh.

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    • #3
      Are these OTXs in addition to annual camp ?

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      • #4
        Originally posted by DeV View Post
        Are these OTXs in addition to annual camp ?
        They can be - at 5RA we would have reservists along at all manner of times, both dependant on what we were doing and when the reservist could be away. For some, if two weeks in December was what they could do that year then it was instead of annual camp, but there were a couple who might turn up for several exercises during the year and who'd go on annual camp as well.

        It was preferable if the OTX was either in addition to, or part of, annual camp, but if someone's work schedule or family life prevented that then you needed to be flexible and find a solution that kept the reservists skills up to date while ensuring he/she was never put in a position of 'these dates or hand your uniform in', because in the end the uniform would stop being worn and you'd lose an asset.
        Last edited by ropebag; 24 September 2016, 21:35.

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        • #5
          Excuse my ignorance, but what is an OTX?

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          • #6
            Operational Theatre Exercise?

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            • #7
              Overseas Training Exercise

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