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Soldiers of the Light Dragoons of British Army in Ukraine for NATO exercise Rapid Trident 0210147

British Army soldiers in Ukraine

Thursday, October 2, 2014 01:21 PM

Soldiers of the Light Dragoons of British Army in Ukraine for NATO exercise Rapid Trident.

About 1,300 troops from 15 countries joined Exercise Rapid Trident held in the Lviv region of western Ukraine. America sent 200 troops and Britain dispatched a reconnaissance troop from the Light Dragoons with 40 personnel. The Light Dragoons are of British army a mounted Light Cavalry Regiment equipped with Jackal armoured vehicles based at Robertson Barracks, Swanton Morley in Norfolk.

Trooper Sygrove providing security whilst a large convoy moves along a route which the Light Dragoons had cleared as part of the exercise.

The multi-national exercise led by the Ukrainian and United States Armies brought together more than 1300 personnel from the 12 nations including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, Poland and Romania.

Almost 1000 pieces of weaponry, hundreds of combat vehicles and several military aircraft were involved in the exercise, which developed multi-national co-operation as well as enhancing the soldiers’ individual skills by learning from their overseas counterparts.

The exercise gave the soldiers the opportunity to operate on foot and further develop their dismounted patrol skills.

Troop Sam Martin (20) from West Hull joined the Regiment in April. “This was my first overseas exercise. We did a lot of training on STANTA training area [Norfolk] before we deployed. Being so new to the Regiment I was really chuffed to be selected and very proud to show the other nations what we were capable of. Not only were we representing the Light Dragoons but the British Army as a whole. The spotlight was on us, so we were carrying a lot of responsibility.”

The Light Dragoons Commanding Officer, Lt Col James Senior, said: “Ex RAPID TRIDENT has been a superb opportunity for The Light Dragoons to operate alongside our international allies. In operating together we have learnt from each other and it has helped to enhance our understanding of how some of our partner nations operate.”

British soldiers from the Light Dragoons on a Ukrainian Army vehicle during the exercise. The soldiers would usually use Jackal vehicles in their role as Light Cavalry however they adapted their skills to operate from the host nation’s vehicles.