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Royal Marines fliers ready for front-line action after gruelling test
13 November 2024
Twelve naval aviators are ready to fly Commandos into combat wherever they’re needed in the world after earning their wings during a gruelling week-long test.
Commando Helicopter Force must be able to carry out sorties anywhere across the globe, providing critical aerial support to the Royal Marines as they operate in extreme environments – from the Arctic to desert and jungle.
To ensure they are ready for their daring missions, students, instructors, engineers and survival equipment specialists from 846 Naval Air Squadron deployed to Okehampton battle camp, on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, for an intense week of rapid planning and real-time tasking with three Merlin Mk4 helicopters.
The squadron specialises in training pilots and aircrew for the front line and, for some of Commando 4 Operational Conversion Flight course, this final test comes at the end of more than seven years of flying training.
Exercise Merlin Storm puts students into a melting pot of relentless operational sorties, testing their skill, determination and cunning as they navigate ever-changing scenarios.
Not only that, but they are personally put through the wringer, living out of rudimentary accommodation in the form of two tents atop a hill battered with near gale-force winds – having to establish a forward operating base from scratch themselves.
Ultimately, to become a Junglie – the nickname given by the troops supported in the jungle campaign of Malaysia and Borneo in the 1960's – the students are intentionally placed out of their comfort zone, which will serve them well on duty with the front-line fliers of 845 Naval Air Squadron.
Lieutenant Commander Tom Morris, 846’s Warfare Officer, said: “Sometimes you’ll find yourself briefing off scribbles on the back of a cigarette packet after plan A, B and C have fallen apart.
“As Junglie pilots and aircrew, it is paramount to know no plan survives first contact and oftentimes some infamous Junglie cunning must be applied in order to make a sound plan and achieve the task at hand.”
After building their own operating base, the students are thrust into action – lifting and shifting loads around the moors, transporting troops and fulfilling any tasks required of a support helicopter on the front line.
This may sound like routine business, but often the students only had 90 minutes between receiving the tasking to delivering a full set of orders, including comprehensive timings and fuel management plans.
The instructors also took great pleasure in throwing in spanners in the works – not literally, of course – to test the students’ ability to quickly adapt.
Captain Elliott Graham, a Royal Marines student pilot, said: “The best part of Exercise Merlin Storm 24 was the real time tasking that had been generated which enabled realistic and challenging scenarios and the ability to utilise the aircraft in an operational capacity for the first time.”
For the student pilots, the road to wings passed through Dartmouth, a short assessment at Yeovilton on Grob Tutors to determine they possessed the qualities expected of all aviators, completed Elementary Flying Training – learning the basics of flight, again on a fixed-wing aircraft.
Next comes helicopter pilot training in the Juno HT1 at RAF Shawbury from general handling, through the hover (described as “easy once you’ve got the hang of it”), then advanced manoeuvres: instrument flying, low-level navigation, landing/taking off from confined spaces, night flying including low level with Night Vision Devices, mountain flying and moving under-slung loads.
The capabilities of the Merlin were put on display during the exercise with the three cabs present remaining fully serviceable and achieving a mammoth amount of real tasking, resulting in the movement of over 800 passengers over the course of the four days of flying.
Highlights included squeezing two Merlins into Scraesdon Fort, in Cornwall, to drop off a contingent of 42 Commando Royal Marines, collecting a troop of Royal Marine recruits fresh from receiving their coveted green berets after the infamous 30-miler and performing an in-scenario Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) of cadets as a formation of three aircraft.
The Commando 4 students now prepare for their long-awaited wings ceremony at Royal Navy Air Station Yeovilton, before joining 845 Naval Air Squadron.