Rayleigh and Wickford MP and Armed Forces Minister, Mark Francois recently paid a visit to members of the Parachute Regiment and other units who are serving in the Army’s elite 16 Air Assault Brigade, based at Merville Barracks, in Colchester.
The Essex MP spent an afternoon visiting the Brigade, during which he was given a demonstration of parachute training and met a number of soldiers who showed him the state of the art 21st century equipment that they now use, ranging from advance mortars and machine guns to thermal imaging sites and laser range finders.
Mark, who served as a TA infantry officer during the Cold War, spent time chatting to the troops, many of whom were veterans of conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Commenting on his visit to 16 Air Assault Brigade, Mark said:
"16 Air Assault Brigade are one of the elite units of the British Army and, as they are based in the county of Essex, I thought it was important to find time to go and see them at their HQ in Colchester. The Brigade are highly motivated and very well trained and I was very grateful to Nick Borton for taking the time to show me around and introduce me to so many of his troops. We are lucky in this country to have some of the finest soldiers in the world and it was great to be able to go and visit some of them in our own county of Essex."