Page 14 - Cormorant Issue 20 2017

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Returning to Contingency: Land Combat Power Visit 2016
Wg Cdr Steve Rowley
ON 19TH AND 20TH October 2016, elements of the British Army kindly
hosted ACSC 20 at the Land Combat Power Visit (LCPV) on Salisbury Plain
Training Area. The aim of LCPV was to develop a deeper understanding of the Land Component by observing how land capability is deployed and employed to achieve operational effect in the contemporary operating environment. With the British Army
focused on the return to contingency, the displays and events represented a marked difference from the Operation HERRICK land-experiences most of the ACSC students had
participated in or supported in our recent Joint endeavours.
operational readiness in the UK. ‘The Iron Division’ is made up of 1 Armoured Infantry Brigade (based at Tidworth), 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade
(Bulford Camp), 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade (Paderborn, Germany) and 101 Logistic Brigade (Aldershot). The command and control element of the LCPV was delivered by Headquarters 3 (UK) Div in their Tactical and Forward Headquarter facilities and through presentations from key HQ staffs. Some of the UK students, of all services, will nd themselves in a
staff post at readiness, or deployed as an augmentee, with this headquarters in
their time following ACSC, so this was an excellent insight.
1st Artillery Brigade (Force Troops Command) delivered the Deep component of LCPV at Old Carter Barracks, with static displays of Surveillance and Target Acquisition, Fires, Information Operations and Ground Based Air Defence equipment. The stands presented an ideal opportunity to talk to the soldiers who operate these niche capabilities and to understand how they were progressing with their contingency training. Much of the equipment had been seen before by the students, employed
in counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, but now it is reverting to its original, conventional role and therefore appeared almost out of place camou aged and concealed on Salisbury Plain. A treat for many on the course was to see the new Wildcat helicopter, now in-service with the Army Air Corps and Royal Navy.
LCPV was split into four stands: Command and control; Close;
Deep, and Sustainment. Plus, students were privileged to witness
a Combined Arms Manoeuvre Demonstration (CAMD) on the
second day. The LCPV was coordinated by the 3rd (UK) Division (3 (UK) Div), the only division at continual
division at continual
“
...the only
operational readiness in the UK ◆◆◆
AH-64 providing Air Interdiction