Rattlesnake brings together British and US paratroopers

British paratroopers have been testing themselves alongside their American counterparts in a wide-ranging exercise designed to build military interoperability and develop the close bond of friendship which already exists between the two nations’ Airborne units.

Soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, based at Merville Barracks in Colchester, are in the United States on Exercise RATTLESNAKE, which has seen them conduct challenging joint training with the American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.

Activities have ranged from complex live-firing assaults on sprawling mock villages, to day and night parachute jumps in combat gear using American T-11 parachutes and safety equipment. Each event has enabled the troops to hone their own skills and develop operating procedures which could be used on future joint operations.

Speaking at Fort Polk, Louisiana, Major Robin Rowell, Officer Commanding B Coy, 2 PARA, said his men had struck up a close relationship with their opposite numbers in the US 101st Airborne Division:

“I think the training has been extremely realistic, and the lessons my soldiers have learned have been invaluable. It’s great to see at all times, both on the exercise and when we’ve had tactical breaks, the conversations that have been going on at a very low level between both the American and British soldiers, pretty much regardless of rank. It shows a very close bond between the UK and the US, and when it all boils down to it, the forces are very similar.”

Corporal Dan Bradley said:

“I’ve worked alongside the Americans in Afghanistan, they’re a good group of guys. Once you break the language barrier, you can have a good chat with them and there’s some good banter – they’ve got respect for us and we’ve shown them the same respect. “I think with the experiences of Afghanistan fading away now, there’s only a few of us really who have been on tour, and it’s good for the guys to come over to foreign places like this, because it does add realism. In fact it’s probably about as real as it’s going to get with the explosions and pyrotechnics that they have going on, and it’s good “battle inoculation” for the guys.”

Meanwhile at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Lieutenant Will Maxton of A Coy, 2 PARA, said their hosts from the 82nd Airborne Division had been both highly professional and warmly hospitable.

“They’re very upbeat, they’re very positive, and that gives a great sense of esprit de corps and camaraderie with our guys and makes us feel very welcome. Obviously we’ve got different parachutes and different aircraft, but thanks to their positivity we’ve felt like we’re back in Britain really. “We jumped yesterday and the parachutes were fantastic. It was a nice slow descent, which is slightly different from ours, which is a much faster, more rapid approach to the ground, so it was nice for everyone to have a bit of a softer landing!”

That theme of friendship and the sense of shared identity felt by paratroopers the world over was echoed by Second Lieutenant Austin Miller of the 82nd Airborne.

“I’ve found more similarities than differences between us. The soldiers seem to be getting on very well. Personal relationships just happen inherently with the training. You’ll see today people are sitting around in the pack shed, and it’s hard not to get to know one another. “Both communities are communities of volunteers, so they raised their hand one more time to be a part of the airborne community, and that’s special whichever country you come from.”