UNDER the command of Brigadier Zac Stenning, commander of Bulford based 1 Armoured Infantry Brigade, hundreds of troops from all around the Plain are taking part in Exercise Saif Sareea 3 in Oman.

This is the biggest exercise held for two decades and involves over 5,500 members of the Army, Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force working alongside their Omani counterparts.

The aim of the exercise is to improve relationships between the two nations Armed Forces and to train British forces in desert conditions. The exercise officially began on October 5 and will see UK personnel and 65,000 of their Omani counterparts take part over the coming month.

SS3 will test the UK and Oman’s ability to deploy a ‘coalition joint task force’ to the Gulf region operating together in austere and challenging conditions.

The Bulford based 1 MERCIAN battlegroup provide the core of the British forces, with over 800 soldiers and 185 Armoured Vehicles and is supported by Cyclops Squadron of The Royal Tank Regiment from Tidworth.

For the last three weeks the troops have been acclimatising, coping with temperatures that have got as high as 50°C and learning how men and machines cope with the heat and dust. The extreme desert heat can hit soldiers and their weapons alike, while dust can cripple even the most expensive high-tech kit, a problem graphically illustrated during Saif Sareea 2 in 2001.

Captain Will Baker from Cyclops Squadron, said the Challenger 2 battle tanks are coping well in the conditions.” "You have got to nurture them through, this is an absolutely insane environment.” He said. “You have got all the dust, so there will be minor problems. But in terms of catastrophic failures, we have not had that many, it is more about a bit of TLC, knowing when to stop and clear the filters."

Over the next four weeks the Battlegroup will exercise in the desert, culminating in a live fire demonstration.