Royal Marines have been testing themselves in new surroundings during their annual Exercise Royal Chamois.

The various elements which make up 3 Commando Brigade Recce Force (BRF) travelled to Slovenia to train alongside members of the host nation’s 132 Mountain Brigade – the first time the Corps have visited the Balkan state.

Around 100 troops, including support staff, took part in the exercise, which was based at the Slovenian Armed Forces Mountain Warfare School at Bohinska Bela.

It allowed them to revise and practise operating drills and reconnaissance skills under suitably arduous conditions in an alpine environment, and a Recce Leaders course was run concurrently.

The training covered four specific skill areas, starting with instruction and training in combat signals, tactical river crossing, climbing and abseiling.

Physical training, which took a high priority, had to be conducted early in the mornings in order to fit a busy schedule into each day, so the working day often started at 5am, with lectures running well into the evening and a 10pm finish.

The second phase took the Royals to the Julian Alps for some gruelling mountain training.
This included one of the highlights of the exercise – a two-day mountain march with full kit, weighing up to 60lbs, to the summit of Mount Triglav, the country’s highest peak.

The alpine theme continued in the third phase, when the Force moved on to Bohinjska Bela and the Kamnisko Savinjske range to undertake comprehensive tactical training and to learn mountain rescue techniques taught by the Slovenian Mountain Battalion.

Training at this point included observation post construction, patrol skills, contact drills, mine strike drills and forward air controlling using Slovenian turbo-prop aircraft.

The final phase, putting into effect a lot of the skills honed over the previous days, was a tactical exercise, again in conjunction with the Slovenian Mountain Battalion, which took place over five days in the Jelovica training area.

The deployment to Slovenia, which shares borders with Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia and has a short Adriatic coastline, ended with a two-day break, which allowed the troops to discover the delights of the country and its capital, Ljubljana.

The programme, and the facilities provided by the Slovenians, were judged to be exactly what was needed. Maj Andrew Fergusson, Officer Commanding the BRF, said: “Recce skills require lots of practice and revision.

“Exercise Royal Chamois is one of the few occasions when BRF as a whole get to practise these very specific skills.

“The Slovenians invited us over here – an opportunity which was seized by the Royal Marines because of the suitability of terrain for recce training.

“The Slovenians have been extremely helpful, hospitable and accommodating to our requests at all times.”

Brig Jim Dutton, Commander of 3 Cdo Brigade, said: “We always seize the opportunity to conduct effective training, and this exercise in Slovenia is particularly valuable as we provide the UK’s mountain troop element.

“There are political and military benefits from coming to train in Slovenia for the first time. They have highly-trained mountain troops, and as a consequence we have things to learn from them. Overall, this has been a tremendous area for us to train in.”

Slovenia was traditionally one of the more prosperous of the Balkan countries, and the nation has been invited to join both the European Union and NATO.

That relative prosperity is reflected in the equipment and sophistication of operational tactics used by Slovenian forces – Capt Ben Foster, Officer Commanding 40 Cdo Recce Troop said: “I have been impressed with the Slovenian troops.

“They use slightly different techniques than we do, but that enables both sets of troops to learn from each other.

“Their equipment is every bit as good as ours. It’s been a great learning experience for all concerned.”

Maj Klemen Medja, CO of the Slovenian battalion, said: “We are in transition from a conscription to a professional armed force and have just had our last conscript recruits pass through training.

“Our future armed forces will be about 18,000 personnel by the year 2010.

“I admire the professionalism of the Royal Marines – they have a lot of experience and are very fit, which is crucial for mountain operations.

“I hope there are future exercises. There is a bilateral agreement between our two countries, so I’m sure there will be similar activities in the future.”

Tough though the deployment was, it was appreciated by the troops. Mne Richie Allen, of 42 Cdo Recce Troop, said: “The exercise was very hard, particularly the mountain march to the top of Mount Triglav.

“It has been very interesting working with the Slovenians, and it has been great to get back to a mountainous environment after our recent deployment to the deserts of Iraq.”

Mne Lee, of 40 Cdo Recce Troop, added: “It’s been a very intense period of training. We’ve been carrying very heavy weights on our back and it’s been a shock to the system, but our level of fitness is enabling us to cope with it.”

Units taking part from the British side included Brigade Patrol Troop, UK Land Forces Command Support Group at Stonehouse Barracks in Plymouth – the hosting unit – 40 Cdo RM Recce Troop from Norton Manor Camp, Taunton; 42 Cdo RM Recce Troop, Bickleigh Barracks, Plymouth; 612 Tactical Air Control Party, UKLF Command Support Group; 148 Battery RA, Poole; and 59 Cdo Royal Engineers Recce Troop, RMB Chivenor, North Devon.