● An RAF Chinook is guided on to Ark Royalw’s fl ight deck at dusk and (below) landing craft are loaded
in the assault ship’s dock
demand
Where once an army marched on its perplexing. team on the vehicle deck, who have to they can carry less than the LCUs), ship will probably take a good 48 hours.
stomach, today it prefers if possible to Take loading vehicles into Largs piece the jigsaw together. and Mexefl otes (powered rafts whose Throw breakdowns, bad weather, the
move on wheels (you still, of course, Bay’s cavernous hold, for example. For Perhaps key to the success of these activities are limited by the sea state). enemy and other imponderables into
have to keep those stomachs happy). Grey Heron, 105 vehicles were loaded green-bereted logisticians is the fact This isn’t a case of driving your car the equation and you have an idea of
On an average day’s exercising, the aboard. that they’re Royals fi rst, logisticians on to a ferry. the task.
CLR will guzzle 40,000 litres of fuel But this is not a car ferry, where it second. Invariably the Royals reverse their With the emphasis on logistics rather
(including AVCAT for the junglie Sea doesn’t matter whether Mr Bloggs and “In the Royal Marines you shift around vehicles on to the craft, tricky if you’re than ‘war fighting’, Grey Heron is an
Kings). his caravan gets off at the other end – from the front-line units to the rear at the wheel of a car. Now imagine the exercise with more tail than teeth.
During Afghanistan, that fi gure before the Eddie Stobart truck. areas, so you get to know everything,” landing craft riding up and down with For every front-line marine of 45
mushroomed to 100,000 litres. And for Here, the front-line troops want the Cpl Burn explained. the swell. Picture the vehicle deck at Commando put ashore, there were
the assault on the Al Faw peninsula in right kit at the right time; if you’re low “Everybody has their role to play. night, dully lit by red or blue light, and a three personnel behind him, or rather
Iraq four years ago, fuel consumption on ammo, the fi eld kitchen trundling When the lads are up front, there’s commando with a couple of light sticks behind and above him if you allow
nudged the quarter-million-litre mark over the battlefi eld probably isn’t a lot always someone in the back supplying as your guide and you have some idea for the Commando Helicopter Force.
(that’s enough to fi ll the tanks of more of use. them.” of how tricky this can be. (Ideally you want three-four supporting
than 4,500 Ford Focus). So, the operations offi cers plan the And then there’s the small act of This is a slow business, even in troops for every combat soldier.)
Grey Heron is rather less demanding battle and let the logistics experts know transferring the vehicles ashore, wartime. Even with all the aerial “Unlike the rest of the brigade, we’re
on the nation’s fuel reserves. But it is what vehicles and equipment they’ll courtesy of LCUs (Landing Craft, support, mexefl otes and landing craft slow and cumbersome,” says Col
demanding on the men. It’s a vital need – and when. And all that feeds Utility), LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicle you can shake a stick at, unloading all Taylor. “Compared with the Army we
exercise, if complicated and, at times, down to the Cpl Robert Burn and his and Personnel – despite their name the kit and vehicles from a Bay-class are light and fl exible.”
nt, RLC...
Regiment... Commando Helicopt
er Force... UK Landing Force Comm
and Support Group... 45 CDO... 539, 4 and 6
Assault Squadrons RM... 846 and 8
47 NAS... 27 Squadron, RAF... 17
Port and Maritime Regime
NNEW 016-017_NN_Nov.indd 2EW 016-017_NN_Nov.indd 2 119/10/07 12:35:239/10/07 12:35:23
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