Exercise Askari Storm: Preparing Battalions For Deployment

3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment on Askari Storm in 2017 (Picture: MOD).

2nd Battalion The Rifles are currently on Exercise Askari Storm in preparation for their deployment to Kabul next year.

The battalion is spending seven weeks in Kenya close to the Equator, taking part in challenging exercises in extreme conditions, battling temperatures up to 40 degrees.

It is being run by the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), a permanent training support unit based mainly in Nanyuki, 124 miles north of the capital Nairobi.

BATUK consists of around 100 permanent staff and is reinforced by a short tour cohort of another 280 personnel.

Under an agreement with the Kenyan government, up to six infantry battalions per year carry out the exercises.

There are also Royal Engineer exercises, which include civil engineering projects and medical deployments to provide primary health care assistance to the civilian community.

The soldiers train alongside members of the Kenyan Defence Forces.

Exercise Askari Storm aims to challenge soldiers in a hot arid environment, living in basic camps in the bush, a far cry from the comforts of life in the UK, and allows battalions to prove themselves battle ready.

Before 2 RIFLES, the 1st Battalion The Duke Of Lancaster's Regiment were the most recent to complete the training exercise, arriving after the Parachute Regiment's 2 PARA - who completed it at the end of last year.