British Paratroopers Take On Public Order Training In Bosnia

The troops from C Company, 3 PARA, are in Bosnia Herzegovina taking part in Exercise QUICK RESPONSE 2018.

This is part of EUROFOR's Multinational Battalion which aims to deepen and strengthen working relationships with international partners.

The Public Order training will hopefully help ensure a safe and secure environment for the people of the country, in support of local authorities and the Armed Forces.

As part of the realistic and challenging training soldiers wore fire retardant overalls, balaclavas and helmets, and bearing protective shields, faced petrol bomb-wielding instructors posing as rioters, testing both their public order skills and their ability to apply them under pressure. 

Private Tamas Borzak, of 8 Platoon, C Company, 3 PARA, talks about undergoing "fire inoculation":

 "The fire inoculation, I can imagine civvies back home if they were to do it they'd probably take some baby steps backwards as the Molotovs were coming at you. But it's good to see the blokes standing firm, going straight through it, seeing the petrol bomb come at you, and "bang!" it's on your feet, and everyone just does the drills and gets their head like that, 'cos you can see that they're really trying to concentrate and get the drills correct, otherwise you will get hurt. But we're Reg, we do the job right, we're professional soldiers."

Paratroopers are trained to conduct a range of missions, from prevention and pre-emption tasks to complex, high-intensity war fighting. Watchwords are professionalism, resilience, discipline, versatility, courage and self-reliance.