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US HONOUR FOR ROYAL MARINES AFGHAN MISSION
30 June 2020
Royal Marine Major James Fuller received the rare honour of an American decoration for his service in Afghanistan.
The commando was presented with the Bronze Star – typically awarded to US military personnel for heroism on the battlefield or meritorious service on the front line – for his 12-month tour-of-duty while on exchange with the US Marine Corps.
The green beret served as assistant operations officer with the US Task Force Southwest in Afghanistan as it carried out the US military’s Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and NATO’s Resolute Support Mission – both aimed at fostering peace and stability in the war-torn country, as well as tackling terrorist activity.
Between June 1 2018 and the end of May last year, the Royal Marine helped plan numerous missions with the Afghan National Defence Security Forces and US Special Operation Forces.
“Without Major Fuller we couldn’t have done what we did in Afghanistan,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael Presley, the regimental gunner with 2nd Marine Regiment USMC.
“He was instrumental in us trying to achieve our objective with Task Force Southwest.”
Major Fuller received the Bronze Star in front of his US comrades during a short ceremony at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
“This means a lot to me – I’m truly humbled. There wasn’t anything which I did differently from my US Marine colleagues. The colour of your uniform or the flag on your arm didn’t matter – we all worked together for one goal. It was a team effort.”
He is serving as part of the Marine Corps Foreign Personnel Exchange Program which gives non-American officers the opportunity to serve with their ‘Semper Fi’ brethren – bringing fresh ideas from a Royal Marines’ perspective, and taking home ideas and lessons from his time with the US Marine Corps.
“To live and breathe as a US Marine for two years has been pretty incredible – I’ve made some life-long friends,” Major Fuller added.
“We’re really lucky – between the Royal and US Marines because we have common training together over the years.
“I like to think that we bring a sense of humour. Royal Marines are renowned for their cheerfulness in the face of adversity – it’s important to smile in difficult situations.”
30 June 2020
Royal Marine Major James Fuller received the rare honour of an American decoration for his service in Afghanistan.
The commando was presented with the Bronze Star – typically awarded to US military personnel for heroism on the battlefield or meritorious service on the front line – for his 12-month tour-of-duty while on exchange with the US Marine Corps.
The green beret served as assistant operations officer with the US Task Force Southwest in Afghanistan as it carried out the US military’s Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and NATO’s Resolute Support Mission – both aimed at fostering peace and stability in the war-torn country, as well as tackling terrorist activity.
Between June 1 2018 and the end of May last year, the Royal Marine helped plan numerous missions with the Afghan National Defence Security Forces and US Special Operation Forces.
“Without Major Fuller we couldn’t have done what we did in Afghanistan,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael Presley, the regimental gunner with 2nd Marine Regiment USMC.
“He was instrumental in us trying to achieve our objective with Task Force Southwest.”
Major Fuller received the Bronze Star in front of his US comrades during a short ceremony at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
“This means a lot to me – I’m truly humbled. There wasn’t anything which I did differently from my US Marine colleagues. The colour of your uniform or the flag on your arm didn’t matter – we all worked together for one goal. It was a team effort.”
He is serving as part of the Marine Corps Foreign Personnel Exchange Program which gives non-American officers the opportunity to serve with their ‘Semper Fi’ brethren – bringing fresh ideas from a Royal Marines’ perspective, and taking home ideas and lessons from his time with the US Marine Corps.
“To live and breathe as a US Marine for two years has been pretty incredible – I’ve made some life-long friends,” Major Fuller added.
“We’re really lucky – between the Royal and US Marines because we have common training together over the years.
“I like to think that we bring a sense of humour. Royal Marines are renowned for their cheerfulness in the face of adversity – it’s important to smile in difficult situations.”
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ROYAL MARINES UNLEASH FIRE AND FURY ON COMBAT EXERCISES
22 June 2020
Royal Marines practised taking down enemy positions on challenging combat exercises in the Brecon Beacons.
Marines from Taunton-based 40 Commando were joined by comrades from 45 Commando and 29 Commando Royal Artillery at the Sennybridge Training Area in Wales, stretching their legs on live firing training.
With machine guns laying down fire support, Charlie Company of 40 Commando advanced quickly on the enemy during day and night troop attacks across the vast Sennybridge area – the third largest range in the UK spanning an area the size of Bristol.
While Charlie moved forward, mortar troops of 40 Commando and 45 Commando rained down a hail of steel and fire throughout the valley from their Viking armoured vehicles, while 29 Commando used their 105mm light guns to pummel nearby targets.
“The vast expanses of Sennybridge Training Area are perfect for live firing,” said Lieutenant Simon Williams of 40 Commando.
“Live-fire packages are important for maintaining the important skills associated with all Royal Marines’ specialisations.
“The undulating terrain of the Brecon Beacons added a physical challenge to the commandos as they operated.
“As would be expected in South Wales; the weather was typically varied, too – with days of hot summer sun followed by autumnal downpours, neither of which fazed the Royal Marines.”
22 June 2020
Royal Marines practised taking down enemy positions on challenging combat exercises in the Brecon Beacons.
Marines from Taunton-based 40 Commando were joined by comrades from 45 Commando and 29 Commando Royal Artillery at the Sennybridge Training Area in Wales, stretching their legs on live firing training.
With machine guns laying down fire support, Charlie Company of 40 Commando advanced quickly on the enemy during day and night troop attacks across the vast Sennybridge area – the third largest range in the UK spanning an area the size of Bristol.
While Charlie moved forward, mortar troops of 40 Commando and 45 Commando rained down a hail of steel and fire throughout the valley from their Viking armoured vehicles, while 29 Commando used their 105mm light guns to pummel nearby targets.
“The vast expanses of Sennybridge Training Area are perfect for live firing,” said Lieutenant Simon Williams of 40 Commando.
“Live-fire packages are important for maintaining the important skills associated with all Royal Marines’ specialisations.
“The undulating terrain of the Brecon Beacons added a physical challenge to the commandos as they operated.
“As would be expected in South Wales; the weather was typically varied, too – with days of hot summer sun followed by autumnal downpours, neither of which fazed the Royal Marines.”
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ROYAL MARINES RAIDERS TAKE ON HIGH SPEED EXERCISES WITH HMS MEDWAY
19 June 2020
Royal Marines raiding experts have been testing themselves on fast boat exercises with HMS Medway in the Caribbean.
It is the first time the 47 Commando Raiding Group marines have worked with the Offshore Patrol Vessel and was another chance to polish their fast boat coxswain skills ahead of operations in the region.
These raiding specialists bring a distinct advantage to the Royal Navy task group in the Caribbean on their main missions in counter-drugs trafficking and disaster relief operations.
The Plymouth-based marines are the green berets’ experts in handling fast raiding boats and landing craft, and are aboard RFA Argus for their hurricane season deployment in the region.
Their presence on the support ship means when it comes to getting crucial aid ashore or hunting down a suspicious craft on counter-narcotics ops, the Royal Navy can do it with tremendous speed and precision.
These hardy coxswains are trained in operating their boats in the most extreme of conditions, having just completed months of training in the icy fjords of Norway and previously worked in the extreme desert heat in Oman.
Having pushed themselves and their kit in extreme climes, they are now working closely as part of a potent Royal Navy task group, including Medway, Argus, an air group of Wildcat and Merlin helicopters and 3 Commando Brigade’s crisis response troop.
Continuing their preparations for Caribbean missions, the commandos worked with Medway on high speed pacing drills, which saw them quickly and carefully maneuvering their boats next to the warship. A key skill when carrying out board and search operations.
Corporal Thomas Thornton, said: “Having been through exercises in really tough places like Norway, we can trust ourselves to operate in the harshest conditions. We have learnt to treat our kit well, so we can push it to the limit to achieve tasks.”
In the event of a natural disaster, the squadron will be tasked with quickly landing supplies and emergency aid, along with landing the 24 Commando Royal Engineers from the crisis response troop.
Already the marines have been training hard with the task group, testing the Humanitarian and Disaster Relief capability on demanding exercises in British Overseas Territories across the Caribbean.
On counter-narcotics operations, the squadron are able to land boarding parties onto suspicious crafts, supporting local police forces and the US Coastguard to interdict suspicious craft.
Sometimes this will need to be done covertly, so delicate maneuvering of the craft is just as important as working quickly, something they tested while working with Medway.
Through similar efforts in the last five years, Royal Navy ships in the region were responsible for seizing circa £750 million worth of cocaine and cannabis.
More emphasis will be placed on these boarding and raiding skills as Royal Marines forge ahead with Future Commando Force development.
The development programme puts commando skills like these right at the front of what the corps does, along with the ability to conduct covert landing of forces for reconnaissance missions.
Cpl Thornton said: “In the marines we have been used to kit that is meant for fighting land campaigns. With Future Commando Force, as well as some higher-level projects, we are starting to hear about scope for kit that can help us in the marine environment.
“Things like waterproof boots, experimenting with software and consoles that aid our navigation, use of drones to conduct recces, and maybe down the line some firearms and weaponry that is more suitable in a maritime environment.
“There is a lot of responsibility for landing craft operators in the marines, and in 539 this is very true. You are the coxswain, it is your boat, and there is a lot of trust placed in you by those you transport. Sometimes they can be very senior, and sometimes you need to deliver them to a location safely, quickly, and all of that falls to us.”
Medway is stationed in the Caribbean on a long-term mission to support Britain’s overseas territories in the region under the Navy’s Forward Presence programme, basing new patrol ships around the globe.
19 June 2020
Royal Marines raiding experts have been testing themselves on fast boat exercises with HMS Medway in the Caribbean.
It is the first time the 47 Commando Raiding Group marines have worked with the Offshore Patrol Vessel and was another chance to polish their fast boat coxswain skills ahead of operations in the region.
These raiding specialists bring a distinct advantage to the Royal Navy task group in the Caribbean on their main missions in counter-drugs trafficking and disaster relief operations.
The Plymouth-based marines are the green berets’ experts in handling fast raiding boats and landing craft, and are aboard RFA Argus for their hurricane season deployment in the region.
Their presence on the support ship means when it comes to getting crucial aid ashore or hunting down a suspicious craft on counter-narcotics ops, the Royal Navy can do it with tremendous speed and precision.
These hardy coxswains are trained in operating their boats in the most extreme of conditions, having just completed months of training in the icy fjords of Norway and previously worked in the extreme desert heat in Oman.
Having pushed themselves and their kit in extreme climes, they are now working closely as part of a potent Royal Navy task group, including Medway, Argus, an air group of Wildcat and Merlin helicopters and 3 Commando Brigade’s crisis response troop.
Continuing their preparations for Caribbean missions, the commandos worked with Medway on high speed pacing drills, which saw them quickly and carefully maneuvering their boats next to the warship. A key skill when carrying out board and search operations.
Corporal Thomas Thornton, said: “Having been through exercises in really tough places like Norway, we can trust ourselves to operate in the harshest conditions. We have learnt to treat our kit well, so we can push it to the limit to achieve tasks.”
In the event of a natural disaster, the squadron will be tasked with quickly landing supplies and emergency aid, along with landing the 24 Commando Royal Engineers from the crisis response troop.
Already the marines have been training hard with the task group, testing the Humanitarian and Disaster Relief capability on demanding exercises in British Overseas Territories across the Caribbean.
On counter-narcotics operations, the squadron are able to land boarding parties onto suspicious crafts, supporting local police forces and the US Coastguard to interdict suspicious craft.
Sometimes this will need to be done covertly, so delicate maneuvering of the craft is just as important as working quickly, something they tested while working with Medway.
Through similar efforts in the last five years, Royal Navy ships in the region were responsible for seizing circa £750 million worth of cocaine and cannabis.
More emphasis will be placed on these boarding and raiding skills as Royal Marines forge ahead with Future Commando Force development.
The development programme puts commando skills like these right at the front of what the corps does, along with the ability to conduct covert landing of forces for reconnaissance missions.
Cpl Thornton said: “In the marines we have been used to kit that is meant for fighting land campaigns. With Future Commando Force, as well as some higher-level projects, we are starting to hear about scope for kit that can help us in the marine environment.
“Things like waterproof boots, experimenting with software and consoles that aid our navigation, use of drones to conduct recces, and maybe down the line some firearms and weaponry that is more suitable in a maritime environment.
“There is a lot of responsibility for landing craft operators in the marines, and in 539 this is very true. You are the coxswain, it is your boat, and there is a lot of trust placed in you by those you transport. Sometimes they can be very senior, and sometimes you need to deliver them to a location safely, quickly, and all of that falls to us.”
Medway is stationed in the Caribbean on a long-term mission to support Britain’s overseas territories in the region under the Navy’s Forward Presence programme, basing new patrol ships around the globe.
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Gotta stitch the Paras up somehow - though I've got to say the new badges are a waste of time and money and most of the guys really don't need the Crye kit day in, day out. Even the speshul ones wear the issue tissue when they're in an office or on a non-arduous course - its like the aircrew who insist on wearing grow bags on a classroom course...
But how else would we plebs know they are aircrew then? FFS, basics!
When I was at Lyneham we deployed regularly somewhere in Iraq with a Herc Crew. We were sat in the crewroom/bar one evening. Me and my oppo (ground trades) and 2x Pilot, 1x Nav, 1x FE, and 1x Loady.... They were all giving it Charles Large about how great it was being aircrew, until I pointed out that myself and oppo were the only people in the room who was actually doing what they joined the airforce to do. I went into the careers office and wanted to be an engineer. Que wailings of I wanted to be a pilot/nav/FE or whatever I had to point out the Nav and FE were only Navs and FEs because they were too S**t to be a pilot. No F***er went into the careers office saying they wanted to be a Nav or FE...and the pilots were only flying Hercs because of the amount of flying training they Failed! In the RAF, Multi Engine Pilots are all the rejects from Helos and FJ training. I rightly pointed out that no-one walked into the careers office wanting to fly a bus around Eye-Rack.
Great times. Strangely I kept missing wheels for the rest of that det as the times mysteriously changed without me being told.
Miss those days now.
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Funnily enough I knew a few lads who flew on the old R1s back in the day, they always wore their blue working dress uniforms in the classrom. Good lads although they insisted on me wearing a growbag when I went for a few jollies with them.
Never had anything to do with them, too sneeky beaky, and for years they didn't officially exist; quite the contrast to today where 51 and RJ are all over the social media. Friend of mine remustered as a linguist and went to the R1, lost touch with him a while ago now.
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Why do they call everything with cameras or sensors an R1? Sentinels, Shadows, Rivet Joints, Nimrods.... Pick a new naming convention please so us non-service types can keep up.
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Role prefixes used at various times comprise:
| Prefix | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A | Airborne (paratroop transport) | Halifax A.VII |
| AEW | Airborne early warning | Sentry AEW.1 |
| AH | Army helicopter | Lynx AH.7 |
| AL | Army liaison | Islander AL.1 |
| AOP | Airborne observation post | Auster AOP.9 |
| AS | Anti-submarine | Gannet AS.1 |
| ASR | Air-sea rescue | Sea Otter ASR.II |
| ASaC | Airborne Surveillance and Control | Sea King ASaC.7 |
| B | Bomber | Vulcan B.2 |
| B(I) | Bomber interdictor | Canberra B(I).8 |
| B(K) | Bomber/tanker | Valiant B(K).1 |
| B(PR) | Bomber/Photo Reconnaissance | Valiant B(PR).1 |
| C | Transport | Hercules C.4 |
| CC | Communications transport | BAe 125 CC.3 |
| COD | Courier – later Carrier – On-board Delivery | Gannet COD.4 |
| D | Drone (pilotless aircraft) | Shelduck D.1 |
| DW | Mine Exploding ("Directional Wireless") | Wellington DW.1 |
| E | Electronics (particularly Electronic Warfare) | Canberra E.15 |
| ECM | Electronic Counter-Measures | Avenger ECM.6 |
| F | Fighter | Typhoon F.2 |
| FA | Fighter/Attack | Sea Harrier FA.2 |
| FAW | Fighter, All-Weather | Javelin FAW.9 |
| FB | Fighter-Bomber | Sea Fury FB.11 |
| FG | Fighter/Ground attack | Phantom FG.1 |
| FGA | Fighter/Ground Attack | Hunter FGA.9 – (superseded by FG) |
| FGR | Fighter/Ground attack/Reconnaissance | Phantom FGR.2 |
| FR | Fighter/Reconnaissance | Hunter FR.10 |
| FRS | Fighter/Reconnaissance/Strike | Sea Harrier FRS.1 |
| GA | Ground Attack | Hunter GA.11 |
| GR | General Reconnaissance (superseded by MR) | Lancaster GR.III |
| GR | Ground attack/Reconnaissance | Harrier GR.9 |
| HAR | Helicopter, Air Rescue | Sea King HAR.3 |
| HAS | Helicopter, Anti-Submarine | Sea King HAS.2 |
| HC | Helicopter, Cargo | Chinook HC.2 |
| HCC | Helicopter, Communications | Squirrel HCC.1 |
| HF | High-altitude fighter (Spitfire only) | Spitfire HF.VII |
| HM | Helicopter, maritime | Merlin HM.1 |
| HMA | Helicopter, maritime attack | Lynx HMA.8 |
| HR | Helicopter, Rescue | Dragonfly HR.5 |
| HT | Helicopter, Training | Griffin HT.1 |
| HU | Helicopter, Utility | Sea King HU.4 |
| K | Tanker | VC10 K.4 |
| KC | Tanker / Cargo | TriStar KC.1 |
| L | Low-altitude fighter (Seafire only) | Seafire L.III |
| LF | Low-altitude fighter (Spitfire only) | Spitfire LF.XVI |
| Met | Meteorological reconnaissance (superseded by W) | Hastings Met.1 |
| MR | Maritime Reconnaissance | Nimrod MR.2 |
| MRA | Maritime Reconnaissance and Attack | Nimrod MRA.4 |
| NF | Night Fighter | Venom NF.2 |
| PR | Photographic Reconnaissance | Canberra PR.9 |
| R | Reconnaissance | Sentinel R.1 |
| RG | Reconnaissance/Ground attack | Protector RG.1 expected in service 2024[4] |
| S | Strike (nuclear capability)[5] | Buccaneer S.2 |
| SR | Strategic Reconnaissance | Victor SR.2 |
| T | Training | Hawk T.1 |
| TF | Torpedo Fighter | Beaufighter TF.X |
| TR | Torpedo / Reconnaissance | Sea Mosquito TR.33 |
| TT | Target tug | Canberra TT.18 |
| TX | Training glider | Cadet TX.3 |
| U | Drone (pilotless aircraft) – (superseded by D) | Meteor U.15 |
| W | Weather research | Hercules W.2 |
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It is a little confusing, as the Role i.e. R is not actually related to the number, the number is related to the aircraft type/name.
So Tornado, was:
Model 1 =GR1
Model 2 = F2
Model 3 = F3
Model 4 = GR4
So the A400m is the Atlas C1
But if they make say a maritime version, it will become the Atlas MR2.
I think the americans do it the other way?
So a herc is a C130
A maritime herc would I think be a P130
Have I helped??
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You have indeed. Stupidly, I knew there was a GR1 and GR 4 and F2 and F3 but I guess I never had the commonsense to question why there wasn't a GR2, GR3 or F1.
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