The Tigers Roam The Jordanian Desert

For the past month troops from 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (2PWRR) have been in Jordan taking part in Exercise Olive Grove.

Based in Cyprus the battalion has been working with Jordanian forces and conducting its own live firing exercises.

As part of that, A Company 2PWRR based themselves at Al Qwerah, southern Jordan on a four-day Company level exercise taking on an imaginary insurgent group called the Loyal Vikers Movement.

Armed with General Purpose Machine Guns they work in two man teams to provide fire support.

They can lay down 750 rounds a minute and hit targets up to 1,800 metres away. The training exercise is designed to test the key skills needed by any infantry battalion, skills the British Army honed in recent years in the battlefields of Helmand.

After three years in Cyprus 2PWRR return to the UK this summer and for these soldiers, some of them new to the army, this has been a valuable month away. 

It's been a chance to refresh core soldiering skills and live up to the battalion’s motto; 'To train hard and fight hard'.