The UK Army’s First Battalion, “The Royal Welsh” Battlegroup, has conducted its final force-to-force operation in Exercise Dragon Charge at the Tapa Central Training Area, Estonia.
The British-led exercise is part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence, an international collaboration to assure the interoperability of allied forces in Eastern Europe.
Troops from Denmark and France joined the exercise alongside the army’s 2 Rifles Battlegroup, the Agile Task Force.
The training included missions utilizing light infantry vehicles, armored fighting vehicles, main battle tanks, and anti-tank and engineering assets.
The Royal Welsh Battlegroup led activities to enhance technical competencies, risk management, and communication skills, including night operations, urban warfare, and assault breaching, focusing on tactical lessons learned from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The four-day exercise also familiarized partner forces with the Estonian terrain to ensure the alliance’s readiness to defend the country for comprehensive European security.
“It was an important week to bring our partners together under the leadership of the Royal Welsh, one final time as the enhanced Forward Presence, to level-up the already extensive training that has taken place during this tour,” First Battalion Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Edward Willcox said.
“Nothing can replace the experience of operating alongside one another; it both demonstrates the capability of the eFP and creates bonds between teams, units and nations that will last long into the future,” he added.
