British marines 'ready for war'

Troops are ready to swap the desert for the mountains

Royal Marine Commandos, who could be among the first sent into Afghanistan if ground troops are deployed, say they are ready for any eventuality.

Members of the 3rd Brigade of Royal Marines - currently on exercises in Oman - said they were ready to swap the heat of the desert for the bitter winter of Afghanistan if the order was given.

The marines from 40 and 45 command are in the Gulf state taking part in Exercise Saif Sareea, along with about 23,000 other members of the British armed forces.

It is only natural to think about what is going on in the world and the men in this group are keen to be involved in anything

Lieutenant Colonel David Capewell

But the escalating campaign in Afghanistan has raised questions over whether the troops in Oman will be deployed to take part in action on the ground.

Lieutenant Colonel David Capewell, commanding officer of 40 commando unit, said: "It is only natural to think about what is going on in the world and the men in this group are keen to be involved in anything, but Saif Sareea is challenging enough without thinking about other possible operations.

"The current training has brought us right to the peak of performance, so far as operations go we are as good as it gets."

Military planning

The 3rd Commando Brigade's mountain and cold warfare skills make them among the most likely troops to be deployed on the ground in Afghanistan, should the decision be made.

Specialist units say they want to put their skills in action

Earlier in the week Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce admitted the use of 3rd Brigade was an option being considered.

He said: "If we were to be thinking about doing any operations in Afghanistan on the ground then clearly they would be one of the units we would give very close consideration."

Senior military figures insisted that exercises in Oman were carrying on as normal .

Brigadier Roger Lane said: "We could be considered along with other options. It will depend on what will be required.

"It is prudent military planning to look at what will be needed. It does not mean execution."

Team pride

Should the need arise, the troops could move anywhere in the world from their current base with arctic warfare equipment delivered to them at short notice.

Gulf exercises have been planed for three years

Second lieutenant David Spink, 26, from Keighley, West Yorkshire, said: "It wasn't a surprise to hear that we could be asked should the situation require it.

"The specialities of the corps, such as the cold weather training and mountain skills make us an ideal option.

"With the winter coming in the region we would be ideally placed with our training to undertake any jobs that need to be done there."

'We are right people'

Marine Kevin Coleman, 31, from Seaton, Devon said: "Obviously we are being kept informed of developments but we are carrying on as normal with the exercise and focusing our minds on that.

"As always we are prepared and ready to go anywhere if we are called upon to do so, that is our job."

Marine Chris Butcher, 23, from Honiton, Devon, echoed those sentiments.

He said: "We are trained in these sorts of areas and environments and I think we would probably be the right people to go in if the decision is made to use ground troops."

The exercise in the Gulf had been planned for over three years and is being used to test the UK's forces capability to deploy large numbers of troops and hardware over long distances.