Mission USA as Soldiers from Lancashire head to States to train

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment are currently in the United States on exercise at the Fort Polk Joint Readiness Training Centre in Louisiana.

While there, they will work alongside their American counterparts.

The exercise gives the soldiers the opportunity to work alongside American troops and help both forces develop a better understanding of their working practices.

Commanding officer for 1 LANCS, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Driver, said the mission was an excellent opportunity for his troops to test themselves

They will be in an environment that they are not used to, he added, and up against some highly trained US soldiers in an exercise scenario.

Lt Col Driver explained: “The environment makes it difficult enough without the opposition force – the 1st 509th Airborne Infantry Regiment – out there as well.

“It’s really an opportunity for us as a British battalion to embed within a US brigade and to ease out some of the challenges of inter-operability, both the human, technical and procedural challenges.”

Regimental Sergeant Major Thomas Whittingham hailed the exercise and commended the close bond between British and American troops.

He said: “They are our closest ally.

“We’ve worked as a coalition now for the past 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“If we don’t train together now and get used to working together, when we do deploy together, those hurdles are even higher.”