King of Jordan Visits The Light Dragoons

16th July 2008

On 2nd June The Light Dragoons deployed out of the gates of Westdown Camp for three weeks living in field conditions and conducting battle exercises on Salisbury Plain.

They were kitted out in the latest technology for conducting simulated battle; rather than firing real bombs and bullets they would be using a hi-tech laser system. After 4 days of exercise the troops got a welcome respite with a Royal visit by King Abdullah of Jordan. In his youth King Abdullah trained at Sandhurst before becoming a troop leader in the Regiment for two years. In 2004 he became the Colonel in Chief and now takes an active interest in everything his old regiment does. The visit saw him flying in with his entourage before being whisked away in an armoured vehicle to visit the troops in the field. He was hugely interested in what the soldiers were up to and all their equipment, including the latest anti-tank weapon which he fired. He also found out how the laser kit works by taking a pot shot at a soldier, Cpl Richardson. Cpl Richardson, the last Captain of Army boxing, presented a fairly large target for the King and so it was unsurprising that it was one shot, one simulated kill. After the Visit the LD’s were back into the simulated battle where they performed superbly for the remainder of their exercise, getting a big thumbs up from both the Brigade staff and the staff running the exercise. There’s no respite for the Dragoons, however, as this is just the first step in their process of preparing to go back to Afghanistan where they will be facing a very real threat from Taliban insurgents.