AS we suffered under a few centimetres of snow here in Salisbury, members of 28/143 Battery 19th Regiment Royal Artillery - The Scottish Gunners took part in the cold weather operator’s course while deployed on Operation CABRIT in Estonia.

In the aptly named Neptune’s Playpen, an icy plunge pool that the soldiers tackled as part of the course.

The soldiers were required to jump into the pool then push their Bergens out and report to the Royal Marine Mountain Leaders who instructed on the course.

Only after answering questions about survival skills in a cold weather environment were they given permission to get out of the pool! They were taught to roll in the snow to raise their temperatures before dashing off to get into warm, dry clothing with the aid of their team.

It was an incredible way to end the course and an experience the soldiers will never forget

Elsewhere in Estonia 26 Engineer Regiment has deployed its dive team to conduct integration training with the Estonian Naval dive team and share their knowledge. This is the first operational deployment of an Army dive team outside the UK since 2013.