Middle eastern training
facilities will transform armed forces training for operations
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
News Release (0093/2009) issued by COI News Distribution Service on
1 May 2009
A brand new £14
million training area officially opened yesterday at Stanford
Training Area (STANTA) in Norfolk that will provide all troops
deploying to Afghanistan with the most advanced and relevant
training facilities in the UK.
The facilities consist of a Rural Middle Eastern Village and an
Urban Middle Eastern Complex which were designed by the
Operational Training Advisory Group (OPTAG) to replicate as
closely as possible the situations which troops could face on
operations in Afghanistan and South Asia.
With the help of Afghan nationals and others who take on the role
of insurgents in these training areas, OPTAG will be able to
replicate the sights, sounds and smells of the South Asia. From
the call to prayer heard across a busy market place, a bustling
family home, to a network of claustrophobic alleyways with high
walls the areas provide for a complex and realistic way to train
troops and test their skills under demanding conditions.
Developed in eight months the first units to benefit from these
new facilities will be 11 Brigade as they start their final
training next month prior to deployment to Afghanistan in the Autumn.
General Sir David Richards, Commander in Chief Land Forces said:
"These new training facilities mean that we will be giving
our soldiers the very best chance to succeed in today's
complex operations and return home safely.
"We need to provide as realistic an environment as we can
for our excellent fighting soldiers. They need to operate from
the same type of place that they will use in Afghanistan and be
put to the test in as realistic a manner as we can devise. They
deserve nothing less.
"The project team has succeeded in a very short time frame
in doing just that and I am proud that we can now offer
today's Armed Forces the facilities they deserve to best
equip them for the job we ask of them on Operations. Training on
these facilities will ensure that UK military personnel will
continue to be trained to the highest possible standard prior to
active duty."
"Defence Training Estate takes great care in its stewardship
of the training estate and so all work has been done in
consultation with the appropriate Statutory Bodies including the
Breckland Council Planning Committee and Natural England.
Suitable measures have been put in place to mitigate the impact to
this internationally important wildlife site and to comply with
relevant wildlife and planning regulations.
Vice Admiral Laurence, the Chief Executive of Defence Estates said:
"This is a hugely important project for the Defence Training
estate which has been delivered to cost and on time. I am
delighted with what has been achieved and pay tribute to all those
who have worked so hard to make it happen. The co-operation we
have received from the local community has been excellent. We can
all be proud to have enhanced operational training at minimum
penalty to the environment."
Ian Levett of Natural England said:
"Natural England has worked in close partnership with the
Military on this project to ensure that they have been able to
fulfil their responsibilities towards nature conservation at the
same time as providing their training needs. This is a very
special area for wildlife and it is a tribute to the Defence
Training Estate that the natural environment has been given the
prominence it has, alongside the training requirements."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1 The training area is used for both live firing and non firing
training for 350 days each year. On average 80,000 troops use the
area annually. It is envisaged that the new facilities will
increase the quality not the amount of training carried out on the Estate.
2 The present training area comprises 17,346 acres of freehold
acquired by the War Department after the war, a further 3,200
acres formerly parts of the Clermont and Hilborough Estates,
acquired in 1987 and the RAF airfields at Watton and Sculthorpe.
This adds up to a total of 22,386 acres of freehold with a further
5215 acres leased or licensed for Army training use. The whole
is some 43 square miles and represents over two per cent of the
County of Norfolk.
3 Within the training area, making up 30 separate lettings, there
are 4,500 acres of land licensed for arable farming. 15,000
acres of land are licensed for grazing, of which 9,500 acres is
heathland holding up to 14,000 sheep in summer. In addition there
are 4,200 acres of woodland on the estate.
4 Planning permission for the work at STANTA was granted by
Breckland District Council Planning Committee in August 2008.
Natural England assent for the works was received prior to the
planning committee decision. The work also included improvements
to the Northern and Southern road infrastructure, replacement of
the Bailey Bridge to sustain frequent usage of heavier vehicles
and improvements to the existing Westmere Forward Operating Base (FOB).