Look back in Argus - Commando fliers complete year-long task group mission

The team from 845 Naval Air Squadron, whose Merlin Mk4 helicopters move Royal Marines and their kit from sea to land and around the battlefield, say the first run-out of the Navy’s Littoral Response Group (South) has proved extremely useful for future operations.

Two Response Groups lie at the heart of the commandos’ future operating model, a self-contained force (ships, air power, commandos and kit) able to respond rapidly and nimbly should the UK’s political and military leaders require swift intervention somewhere.

The northern group covers Europe and the Mediterranean, South the Middle East and beyond and is one of two amphibious strike groups operated by the UK Commando

The helicopters joined veteran aviation training ship RFA Argus in September last year providing the aerial support to the commandos, with RFA Lyme Bay the amphibious element of the Littoral Response Group.

The conflict in the Middle East meant much of the early part of the deployment was focused on preparing for any contingency as the ships/personnel were held at readiness in and around Cyprus should Britons need evacuating from the eastern Mediterranean.

The Royal Navy was not the only force poised in the region: NATO and US warships were among those mustered.

Coupled with the RAF airbase at Akrotiri, the extended period offering widespread training opportunities for the Merlins and commandos which would be vital in the event of being activated: rapid roping, casualty evacuation, recovering personnel from behind hostile lines, moving troops and kit from ship to shore (and back again) and getting used to working with allies with some cross-decking (particularly the FGS Frankfurt am Main and US commando carrier USS Bataan).

When the situation was deemed to be less tense, the deployment resumed and the ships headed east of Suez.

Once through the Red Sea, the deployment returned to its more regular mission: exercising with a string of partner nations, beginning with India and INS Sahyadri to test the Merlins’ ability to shift stores with the Commonwealth navy and opening doors to further co-operation the next time the response group is in the Indian Ocean.

After stops in Singapore and Brunei, the key workout was an extended stint in and off Australia’s enormous (and mostly empty) Northern Territory (five times the size of the UK, but with a population the size of Plymouth).

 The vast open spaces are perfect for military training – and so played host to Exercise Predators Run, Australia’s principal combined exercise, with US and UK forces invited to participate.

Assisting Royal Marine Commandos, the Merlins of 845 NAS conducted raids on to an ‘enemy’-held island during the night, ‘rescued’ a downed pilot on the run in the bush, and covertly inserted a reconnaissance team deep into ‘enemy’ territory.

 “The chance to fly, often at night, in formation with other aircraft in support of Royal Marines in an environment as unique as the Australian Outback is something that most aviators may never get the chance to do,” said Lieutenant Commander Scott Reilly, who flew one of the first aircraft on to Argus last year and re-joined the ship as environmental training officer for Predators Run.

 “I know I learned a lot from the experience, and I am sure that the lessons that the squadron took away will help shape and improve what we do for years to come.”

Operating from RFA Argus in the heat of Northern Australia, the aircrew, engineers, and the ship’s crew worked tirelessly – often to the absolute limit of their capability – to ensure friendly forces ‘triumphed’.

 Predators Run and Northern Territory marked the high-water mark of the deployment, after which both ships made a beeline for the UK via Diego Garcia and Cape Town before returning to Portland having covered more than 25,000 miles.

 Lt Cdr Reilly returned one final time to fly the last Merlin from Portland the short distance to Yeovilton.

 “It was a privilege to have been there for the beginning and the end of this year-long journey knowing what it has achieved,” he said.

 “The opportunity for our aircrew and engineers to operate around the world and see places that they may never have had the chance to travel to, whilst flying and assisting Royal Marines on exercise was unique and for many would have been their first experience of a deployment of this scale.”

 Above all, he says, it was the variety – the mix of real-world events, exotic locations and wide-ranging exercises/training – which made the deployment extremely beneficial and a springboard for similar missions in the future.

 Lt Cdr Reilly added: “Flying in all environments, day and night, ready to react to an ever-changing world provided fantastic opportunities to train and improve ourselves ready to face threats and assist our allies and partners around the globe.

“The Littoral Response Group was ever-ready to react, and this provided a lot of excitement. To have the capability to assist all over the world whenever needed always kept the deployments interesting. The plan was ever changing, and we were always ready to support whenever the UK called upon us.”