Yorkshire soldiers face off against US Marines Corp in Nato's Exercise Northern Strike

Members of the British Army's 4th Battalion of the Royal Yorkshire Regiment joined forces with American troops during one the largest reserve forces exercises in Nato.

The reservists of the 4th Battalion travelled to Michigan to meet with 7,000 troops from the New York National Guard, the US Marine Corps Reserve, as well as reservists from Nato ally Latvia during Exercise Northern Strike.

The Nato exercise was held at the Camp Grayling range complex, 200 miles north of Detroit.

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The massive 'military-readiness' exercise incorporated many aspects designed to replicate the modern '3D' battlefield and included appearances from American Apache attack helicopters and reconnaissance drones.

The Yorkshire soldiers also benefited from the addition of a free-thinking, aggressive enemy force provided by the US Marine Corps.

The 4th Battalion is part of the York-based 19th Light Brigade, the British Army's only fully reservist brigade.

Second Lieutenant Robert Collier of The Yorkshire Regiment said: "We've just been on a three-day exercise where we've gone through effectively three training lanes.

"We were operating as a platoon and learning, so doing raids, deliberate attacks, and advance to contacts and just shaking out a platoon and effectively training.

"I think for a lot of the troops, it's their first time operating in a platoon like this. Obviously, there's loads of experience, not everyone but, for myself, it's my first time leading a platoon of soldiers.

"We were operating as a platoon and learning, so doing raids, deliberate attacks, and advance to contacts."

He added: "It's a massively huge benefit coming out here and I think there's also a draw, there's an incentive for the troops to come."