WILLIAM VISITS THE MERCIANS
Last Friday The Prince of Wales as Colonel in Chief of The Mercian Regiment, visited Mercian soldiers serving in Estonia
During his visit Prince William watched the handover from the Royal Dragoon Guards to the MERCIANS, took a ride in a Challenger 2 tank from Tidworth based King’s Royal Hussars and saw the new Archer 155mm self propelled gun manned by gunners from Larkhill based 19 Regiment RA The Scottish Gunners.
In honour of his visits, the MERCIAN soldiers wore oak leaves in the berets, a tradition stemming from the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 where a detachment of the regiment’s forbears saved King George II.
He joined soldiers on exercise travelling in a Warrior seated in the commander’s turret to get a better view of the action. He spoke to recently arrived soldiers and visited the NAAFI where he played table football and pool with some of the lads.
RIFLES IN THE STATES
Riflemen from Bulford based 5 RIFLES have been taking part in Project Convergence Capstone 2025 at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert.
The aim of the multinational exercise is to test new technologies and help shape the future of military operations, with the focus on the air-to-ground littoral – the low-level airspace increasingly dominated by drones.
During this initial scenario, soldiers from 5 Rifles had to set up an OP and assault a village and deployed a D40 drone to search for possible enemy locations during the urban assault phase.
FUSILIERS IN FIJI
Soldiers from First Fusiliers are acting as observer mentors for Third Battalion, Fiji Infantry Regiment during Exercise CENTRAL DIAMOND, as they take on the challenges of jungle warfare.
The training includes advance to contacts, close target reconnaissance, and survival training, pushing soldiers to adapt and operate effectively in one of the world’s most demanding environments.
Back in Tidworth, Fusiliers recently stepped out of their comfort zones by taking on parachute training as part of Army Adventure Training.
After ground training, it was time to jump. Equipped with radios and trackers, Fusiliers made their first leaps before progressing to packing their own parachutes followed by two more jumps.
