Rayleigh and Wickford MP and Armed Forces Minister, Mark Francois, who served in the TA during the Cold War, had an opportunity to relearn his infantry skills when he participated in a house-clearing exercise during a recent visit to the Royal Marines.
Mark, who served as an infantry officer in the old 5th Battalion (Volunteers) of the local Royal Anglian Regiment was visiting 40 Commando Royal Marines, who are based in Taunton, when he was invited to take part in a training exercise, practising house-clearing drills. Mark was given an SA80 rifle, armed with "paint ball" practice ammunition and placed in an infantry unit which then successfully assaulted an occupied compound and cleared it of a simulated enemy stay-behind party.
Speaking about the exercise Mark said:
"When I was a young officer we used to practice drills like this quite a lot so it was very exciting to have a chance to do it again - albeit twenty-five years on! The Royal Marines are elite troops, with a proud regimental history who celebrated their 350th anniversary only last year. It was wonderful to actively participate in a training exercise with them - it brought back lots of happy memories of when I served in uniform."