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4th Regiment Royal Artillery
Ex DESERT KHANJAR
Imagine the scene: it is January in Alan- brooke Barracks. Sleet falls thickly on the frozen ground. Ice, or filthy grit, cov-
ers the roads. The faint smell of wet dog food permeates. In a dark and cold hangar, a pigeon relieves itself from a safe perch somewhere in the shadows above the raft- ers. One must imagine this scene, because – in fact – there was nobody there to see it. Chalmer’s Troop (the Tac Group of 3/29 Battery RA) are gone: far away, over churn- ing seas and broad continents. They are in Oman. It is 30 degrees, the sun is shining and the average complexion of the Troop is growing steadily more bronzed.
PHASE 1 – ACCLIMATISATION AND PREPARATION
The Battlegroup (BG) was based in Renaissance Village (RSV for short) a comfortable base of air-conditioned rooms with a gym and dining room, with the main admin area nearby. Both sit just outside the port town of Duqm, a small habita- tion sprung from the rocky desert. The first weeks were full of administration, exercise preparation and acclimatisation on a large, dusty flat of land.
PHASE 2 – EXERCISE KHANJAR OMAN
The main, 12-day tactical phase of the deployment demanded innovation. With such flat and expansive terrain, the FSTs deployed with the key support ele- ments; the anti-tank, reconnaissance and machine guns platoons. This proved successful, and with wide arcs fires were directed primarily from the van and flanks of the BG. Transport was as inventive as the ORBATing and a mix of Jackal, Land Rover, HILUX and even TCV were utilised.
An FST deploys into the desert
With no guns or TES (a training aid that approximately functions as military Laser- Quest), the Joint Fires Cell was mostly focused on planning and on directing the subunits, and on acting as a HICON. The Bty was infiltrating other areas of the headquarters too, with one captain step- ping up as the BG intelligence officer, suc- cessfully changing the BG SOPs to utilise lumicolour pens instead of crayons for G2 reports.
The greatest success here lay with integra- tion; building relationships with the BG, tri-
alling novel deployments and demonstrat- ing our adaptability and dependability.
PHASE 3 – SMALLER EXERCISES AND RANGES
The Battery used phase 3 to build their experience with Foxhounds. Two full vehi- cles headed into the desert and there practised navigation, drills and off-road driving. They teams pushed them to the edge – and very almost over it – but all was well and lots of valuable training took place.
Small arms ranges were another feature of this phase. 5 members of the Battery deployed to the desert range and joined in 3 days of shoots. This included pairs fire and manoeuvre, fire-team attacks, and a grenade range. Downtime was spent prac- tising ergonomic weapon handling drills. 3/29 Bty put in a good showing, with the range staff doubting they were Gunners and not actually experienced infanteers., earning the nickname ‘Delta Force.’
Small arms shooting was followed by a mortar range. Deep in the desert and shrouded in the dense morning fog, the Gunners linked up with the mortarmen and were led through the barren moon- scape to their base in a dried-up wadi. The following days saw close integration and knowledge sharing, as well as the chance to ‘hang a round.’ An enthusiastic recipro- cal invite was extended before the visitors
3/29 (Corruna) Battery Capt Chris Welsh RA
’Delta Force’ live fire as the sun sets
Hanging a round with the mortars
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