When arriving in a new, hostile environment it is key for the UK Armed Forces to make it safe to use as a base.
The Royal Marines spearheaded the UK’s largest combined amphibious exercise in years. Ships, aircraft and more than 1000 personnel arrived in and around RAF Akrotiri (Cyprus), to find out how to turn a potentially threatening environment into an operational camp for troops in theatre.
Exercise Austere Wolf looks at how all three services work together to create an operational camp. The exercise was a rehearsal of Joint Theatre Entry – military parlance for the landing of lots of different military elements from air, land and sea into a potentially hostile region.
Through the MITER Service Centre and our Service Centres at Larkhill, Chatham, Chivenor and Dhekelia, over 30 equipment were demanded and delivered by AmeyBriggs for this important exercise.
Equipment included items such as Excavators, Lighting Towers, Telehandlers, a Grader and Rough Terrain Container Handler.
Royal Marines led the way, forming a beachhead after launching from landing craft from Albion and Merlin helicopters. It paved the way for the British Army’s Royal Logistic Corps to offload equipment from cargo ship Hurst Point, with a Royal Navy Puma drone providing surveillance overhead.
After establishing logistics, the joint force was then ready to forge inland and complete further objectives, being tested in a range of real-world scenarios from war fighting to disaster relief and humanitarian aid. As commandos led the way, a range of infrastructure was brought ashore for Royal Engineers to build a camp able to support 500 personnel and designed to house people in the event of a crisis.