Royal Marines Light Up California

The British invasion, again! Royal Marines have carried out live firing exercises by staging a mock dawn raid on an enemy village. 40 Commando Royal Marines are currently taking part in Exercise Black Alligator in the Mojave Desert, California. They are in the USA to hone their warfighting skills alongside their US colleagues at the sprawling US Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Centre, which has nearly 1,000 sq miles of ideal training ground. In order to retain their annual marksmanship qualification, the men of 40 Commando have to undergo a Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFEX), the final part of the live fire training package. The impressive CALFEX dawn raid on the enemy village saw two Companies fight alongside US Marine Corps battle tanks, with fire support from mortars, artillery, and Humvee-mounted heavy weapons.