The 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment on Salisbury Plain training.
The Royal Irish had to deal with 80 simulated incidents from ambushes and roadside bombs to tribal infighting, as well as conducting day to day activities on the ground from working with the local police, patrolling the area, and guarding the camp. The Battalion also had to plan and carry out two key operations during the Exercise - the arrest of a radical cleric and a siege on a city which involving the whole Battalion.
The training is as realistic as it can get. Over 100 soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Black Watch played the role of Iraqi insurgents, local police and civilians. Using high tech laser equipment, TESEX (Tactical Engagement Simulation Exercise), adds more realism to the training as the soldiers know they can be 'hit' by bursts of lasers each time blank ammunition is fired, casualties receive medical attention and any 'fatalities' are taken out of the Exercise and can only rejoin as replacements after being brought back to life by the 'God gun'.
