Moray service personnel aid the fight against terrorism in Africa
An RAF Regiment team from Lossiemouth are passing on their expertise in Nigeria to help the fight against Boko Haram rebels
Personnel from RAF Lossiemouth are readying the Nigerian Air Force Regiment and Air Police in their fight against Boko Haram.
The Moray-based 5 Force Protection Wing (5 FP) are delivering a six-week training package to the Nigerian troops at Kaduna Airbase before they deploy to North East Nigeria to join the fight against Boko Haram.
The Nigerian Government requested the bespoke Air Force Protection support following attacks on their airbases.
The Lossiemouth team are delivering intensive courses in force protection, counter intelligence, special investigations, military working dogs, tactical intelligence, officer training and close quarter battle.
It's part of wider ongoing programme of UK Defence Engagement with the Nigerian Government, improving the Nigerian personnels ability to fight terrorism.
5 FP arrived in Nigeria for heat acclimatisation Training last week and have begun delivering training in temperatures reaching 38 centigrade with humidity always above 65%.
Speaking to MFR News, Wing Commander John Rees said, "We're training 450 students and our job is to pass on our experience and expertise"
"The training is immensely satisfying for our troops" - Wing Commander John Rees
"It's a challenge obviously, as in the past they've been taught other specialties, but we've broken down the training into four parts"
"We find out what their prior knowledge is, we then work on the new skills - the primary role being securing the Nigerian Air Force - we then look at a mission rehearsal"
"Normally they train in classrooms - sometimes in large groups of 100 - but all of our training is practical or 'in the field' so that keeps them on their toes. They're always outside doing something or in the bush, we then take this on a stage further and move up to some large scale exercises, with helicopters and Nigerian Air Force Hercules Aircraft"
The fight against Boko Haram may not always be at the forefront of the news. There have been the high-profile kidnappings of the Chibok students, but Wing Commander Rees says the situation is one the UK Government give great importance to.
"Up in the North East of the country the situation is very serious, so we have to work on enhancing and developing their forces, I've travelled to those areas and the people there have a very serious job on their hands and they do it very well"
Despite what he describes as "challenging conditions", with both the heat and the monsoon, along with power-outages, Wing Commander Rees believes: "The training is immensely satisfying for our troops and the Nigerians are very grateful for the help we're giving their troops"