The officer is one of 22 tri-
Service troops who are at
Longmoor as part of a four-week
training package that, once
completed, will qualify them to
join high readiness operational
liaison and reconnaissance teams.
These units work out of Joint
Forces Headquarters (JFHQ) in
Northwood and are, typically,
four- to eight-person groups who
deploy to countries which have
been destabilised by political
turmoil or natural disaster.
Linking up with the British
Embassy, the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office or the
Department for International
Development, they often all work
together to develop plans for
carrying out evacuation and relief
efforts.
Their tasks involve doing
recces of docks, airports and road
networks, as well as meeting with
local administrative and political
leaders to smooth the way for any
future operation.
This training package, which
includes participating in a
number of demanding serials,
has to be completed by those who
want to be eligible for the two
highest readiness teams – which
call for personnel to be kitted up,
briefed and ready to go anywhere
in the world within hours. Other
personnel are held at 24 and 48
hours, and staff are rotated to
provide some flexibility for off-
duty activities.
“The training puts a lot of
emphasis on soft skills such as
decision making and relationship
building, but putting these men
and women through various
situations where they learn
to deal with hostile crowds or
vehicle ambushes have become
an essential ingredient,” explains
Maj Dale Luttig (RE), one of the
course instructors.
“That's mainly because of what
happened in Libya in 2011, after
Gaddafi was toppled, when we
evacuated British citizens out of
the country and got contacted.”
With individuals from all threeMaybe we should
have taken a
Condor moment
38 AUGUST 2019 http://www.soldiermagazine.co.uk37-40-sol-aug OLRT2.indd 3 02/08/2019 09:50