British soldiers from Light Dragoons regiment are deployed in Poland as NATO Forward Presence 10204171

Defense & Security News - Unitd Kingom
 
British soldiers from Light Dragoons regiment are deployed in Poland as NATO Forward Presence.
British soldiers from Mustang Troop (A Squadron) The Light Dragoons are deploying to Poland with the US 2d Cavalry Regiment as part of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence (eFP).About 150 Light Dragoons will join the United States-led eFP Battlegroup based in Poland. The Battlegroup elements have left Germany and are now conducting a tactical road move to Orzysz, Poland.
     
British soldiers from Mustang Troop (A Squadron) The Light Dragoons are deploying to Poland with the US 2d Cavalry Regiment as part of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence (eFP).About 150 Light Dragoons will join the United States-led eFP Battlegroup based in Poland. The Battlegroup elements have left Germany and are now conducting a tactical road move to Orzysz, Poland.
The Light Dragoons regiment of the British army, currently located in Germany operates the Jackal 2 4x4 reconnaissance vehicles. (Picture British MoD)
     
The Battlegroup consists of approximately 1,300 soldiers from the United States Army The 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, A Squadron The Light Dragoons, an Air Defence artillery battery and a Military police company from Romania. They will integrate with the Polish 15th Mechanized Brigade, 16th Infantry Division.

Major Noel Claydon-Swales, Officer Commanding A Squadron, The Light Dragoons, described the deployment as a great opportunity. He said: “We are going to Poland at the request of their Government to act as a deterrent and to provide reassurance to our NATO allies.

“We are looking forward to starting and working further with our NATO allies as part of the eFP Poland Battlegroup. The mood among everyone is very positive. We have worked hard for the last month working on our interoperability, proving concept and testing ourselves constantly.”

The road move to Poland itself is a challenge for the troops, who are travelling 1,300 km.The US-led Poland battlegroup is one of four NATO multinational deployments to the eastern part of the Alliance, with the UK, Germany and Canada leading on the others.

The Light Dragoons (LD) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment is a light cavalry regiment with a history in the reconnaissance role which dates back to the early eighteenth century. It is currently based in Catterick Garrison North Yorkshire.

The Light Dragoons soldiers operate the Jackal 2, a 4x4 high mobility weapons platform is used for reconnaissance, rapid assault, fire support and convoy protection.

The Jackal 2 is armed with a General Purpose Machine Gun for crew protection and can carry either a Heavy Machine Gun or a Grenade Machine Gun as the main weapons system in the fire support role.