DARING paratroopers were put to the test as they practised how they could evacuate British citizens in danger overseas.

Known as a non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO), it is one of the key missions the Colchester-based 16 Air Assault Brigade have to be ready to carry out at short notice.

The Paras would be tasked with getting citizens from Britain and allied countries evacuated from a place of danger, be that due to disease, a natural disaster or conflict.

On Exercise Askari Storm in Kenya, the Colchester-based troops have been recreating a mission to rescue people from a fictional country destabilised by an insurgency.

Gazette:

An assault force from the 3 Para Battlegroup parachuted in under the cover of darkness to secure an airfield.

After engineers who had jumped in checked the runway could take an RAF C130 Hercules, additional troops and vehicles following by rapid air landing.

Soldiers then fanned out across the countryside to protect citizens from the UK and allied countries, bringing the 400 evacuees back to the airstrip for food, shelter and medical care, before they were flown out to safety.

The troops then departed by aircraft.

Gazette:

Battlegroup commander Lte Col Mark Swann said: “In this exercise we are proving our skills as the UK’s global response force, being at 48 hours notice to move means we can come straight into a NEO without any build up training.

“The guys parachuted in and secured an airfield, which allowed us to create a forward base to evacuate entitled persons.”

3 Para’s Captain Jody Harris said: “One of the capabilities of this brigade is to carry out a NEO at short notice.

“So, these exercises are extremely important as they create an atmosphere of realism to test our units.”

The mission kicked off the six week-long exercise, which is about testing the 3 Para Battlegroup’s skills and readiness to serve in the Air Assault Task Force.

The group is held at high readiness to deploy by air to anywhere in the world to carry out the full spectrum of missions from peaceful evacuations to war fighting.

3 Para Battlegroup is built around the airborne infantry of Colchester-based 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, bolstered by artillery, engineers, signallers, medics and logisticians from across 16 Air Assault Brigade.

After training on their individual skills and capabilities in the hot and harsh environment of Kenya, the battlegroup came together for demanding live fire battle runs.