Wiltshire soldiers face MINUS 20 and deep snow on Baltic exercise
They even had to jump into ice cold lakes!
Hundreds of troops have been taking part in intense training in Estonia as part of the ongoing NATO presence across the Baltics and Poland.
During the two week exercise Bulford based 5 Rifles led NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup trained in freezing conditions near Tapa.
To prepare them for Winter Camp the Battlegroup took part in what's called a 'Cold Weather Operator’s Course' learning to build shelters, staying out in conditions well below freezing, and even surviving jumping into ice cold lakes.
Commanding Officer Colonel Hadfield says it's a crucial bit of training.
“You know, as British soldiers we don’t often soldier in -20 degrees Celsius or this kind of depth of snow. It presents equipment challenges, clothing challenges, as well as different tactics, and the cold weather operators course provides that foundational baseline bit of training to make sure that we can build upon that and be as good a team as we can be.”
The infantry companies of 5 Rifles also honed their fighting skills in dense snowy forestry.
Major Rob Fellows, Officer Commanding of A Company, 5 Rifles says the experience was definitely a challenge
"Although I have operated in cold conditions before, including in an Afghan winter and done attacks with snow on the ground in the UK, I have never operated in winter conditions as challenging as this, where the snow is as deep as it is, and where the climate is as unforgiving. Therefore, leading a company through a week of high-intensity training in those conditions is really rewarding."
Meanwhile, the Challenger Main Battle tanks of D Squadron Queen’s Royal Hussars, based at Tidworth, tackled the snow and ice of forest tracks as they trained with the Estonian soldiers.
Trooper Cameron Dixon of D Squadron said;
“This is by far the coldest exercise I have done. You’ve got to keep warm, eat hot food and move about while maintaining the tanks. You’ve got to keep layered up too and it can be quite tight inside the tank with body armour on, but you’ve got push through.”
The training was supported by personnel from the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME), the Royal Logistic Corps, 5 Armoured Engineer Squadron part of 22 Engineer Regiment, based at Perham Down, as well as Medics.